


Taking Chances

by leeanndarling, lovelylarry (leeanndarling)



Series: Taking Chances [1]
Category: Larry Stylinson - Fandom, One Direction
Genre: AU, Anxiety, Drug Use, F/F, Hurt/Comfort, I don't know, M/M, Mentions of Rape, Past Drug Use, Pining, Rehab, Self-Harm, coffee barista!Harry, eventual smut(?), harry is very optimistic and all around happy, harry wants to help louis, louis is depressed, louis is just really sad, mentions of abuse from the past, uni student!Louis
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-03-23
Updated: 2015-10-07
Packaged: 2017-12-06 05:32:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 15
Words: 39,950
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/731987
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/leeanndarling/pseuds/leeanndarling, https://archiveofourown.org/users/leeanndarling/pseuds/lovelylarry
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Louis Tomlinson doesn't believe in love. Why should he?<br/>Harry Styles is a firm believer in love and soul mates.</p><p>or: a cliche story where they meet at a coffee shop owned by Niall and Louis eventually gives Harry a chance to prove love is real<br/>(ft the boys and 2/4 of little mix, angst, drugs, abuse, and drama)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! So this idea just popped in my head one day and I decided to write it. It's going to be a bit of fluff, angst, hurt/comfort, everything! This is chapter one. I decided to post it on here as well as Tumblr!  
> Hope you like it! :)

Louis muttered curses to himself as he walked in the rain. He pulled his jacket tighter around him.

“Stupid, no good rain. Always making me late.”

He hurried inside of his favorite coffee shop to grab a quick cup before class. He jogged up to the counter just as Niall did. There was a new kid at the register. He couldn’t be older than sixteen or seventeen. Curly hair, green eyes, and dimples. He’s pretty cute.

Louis’s vibrating phone brought him out of his thoughts.

“I’m almost there, I promise,” he said hurriedly.

“You just had to stop for coffee, didn’t you?” Zayn asked. “You know if you’re late one more time, Professor Thompson is going to kill you.”

“I know. But I won’t be late! I’ll be there in like five minutes. Goodbye.” He hung up and set his phone on the counter.

“Here ya go, Lou,” a familiar Irish voice said. He looked up to see Niall holding his usual. “Harry will ring you up today. Running a bit behind in the kitchen.”

“Thanks, Niall,” Louis smiled.

“No problem!”

Louis made his way to the register.

“Hi,” he said. “I’ve just got this.” He held his drink up.

“You seem like you’re in a hurry,” Harry mused. Louis nodded. “Alright then.”

Louis paid and left with a quick ‘thanks!’ thrown over his shoulder. He made sure he had a good grip on his bag before sprinting off towards the building his class was held in. He made it with a few minutes to spare.

“You got lucky today, Tomlinson,” Zayn laughed. “Overslept?”

“Yes,” Louis answered. “Bloody storm knocked the electricity out and my alarm didn’t go off. You would know that if you bothered to come home every so often.”

“You could’ve gone one day without coffee, y’know,” Zayn mentioned.

Louis rolled his eyes. He went to get his phone out of his pocket and his eyes widened. “Ah, hell!”

“What?”

“I put my phone on the counter after I hung up with you and I left it there! I have to go get it!”

Just then, the professor walked in, effectively ruining Louis’s plans. A piece of paper was placed in front of him.

I’ll drive you back to the shop to get your phone if you buy me a drink ;)

Louis rolled his eyes, but nodded.

-0-

The morning rush was finally over and Harry took the opportunity to wipe down the counters. Under a napkin was phone. Harry picked it up and looked at the background. There were two guys in the picture, one he recognized from this morning. He quickly put the phone in his pocket. He really hoped the guy came back for it.

Harry couldn’t get the guy out of his mind. His bright blue eyes, thin brown hair, and that smile. Although Harry would deny it, he couldn’t help but check out the man’s arse as he ran out of the shop. He thought about the way his jeans hugged it perfectly. He pushed the thought out of his mind, blush rising to his cheeks.

The phone started vibrating and he quickly pulled it out of his pocket. ‘Zayn!’ flashed across the screen. He answered.

“Hello?”

“Yeah, hi, who is this?” the person asked.

“Um, this is Harry,” he replied, “from the coffee shop on Grand.”

“Great! I’m Louis and I left my phone there this morning. I actually think you were the person I paid. Anyways, I’m on my way to the shop to pick it up. You’re still there, right?”

“Yeah, yeah. I’m here for another twenty minutes or so.”

“Alright. See you in a bit, Harry.” The line went dead.

There was something about the way that Louis said Harry’s name. It was sweet, yet sexy all at the same time. He couldn’t help but think about how he wanted to hear that voice all the time-

The door chimed. Harry looked up to find Louis and, who he assumed was Zayn, walk in.

“Harry, right?” Louis asked.

Harry nodded. “Yeah, that’s me.”

“Louis, what are you doing back?” Niall asked from the kitchen. “You’re never here twice in less than five hours.”

“The idiot left his phone here,” Zayn snickered.

Niall emerged from the kitchen with a grin. “Seriously? Sometimes I swear you’re a natural blonde.”

Louis pouted. “They’re always so mean to me!”

Harry chuckled. “Niall’s a bit of a twat.” Louis smiled. “How do you know him, anyways?”

“He was my neighbor growing up and I’m here just about every morning,” Louis shrugged. “Can’t get through the day without my coffee. Plus, this place isn’t far from Uni or my place, so it’s the perfect spot. What about you? Did you know Niall before you started here?”

“A little. My mate Liam asked him to get me a job here. They’re really good friends.”

“Louis, unless you want to walk your sorry arse home, I suggest you follow me out the door,” Zayn interrupted.

“Maybe I want to walk home.” Louis stuck his tongue out.

The door chimed again. Louis went rigid when he saw the man.

“Lou, let’s get out of here.” Zayn pulled a frozen Louis towards the door. He threw an apologetic smile over his shoulder to Harry and Niall.

“What was that all about?” Harry asked. The man who just walked in took a seat near the back, no intention of order anything.

“That’s Lou’s ex,” Niall explained quietly.

“His ex?” Harry questioned. “But that’s a guy. So Louis is…” Niall nodded.

“Yeah,” the blonde said. “Apparently it didn’t end well. The guy’s a huge dick. Didn’t like Lou coming in and talking to me a lot. The few times he did come in, he would have a bruise or two. It was horrible.”

“He was abusive?”

Niall shrugged. “Louis swore up and down that it wasn’t him that did it. I never pushed. It wasn’t my business.” Niall noticed the look on Harry’s face and shook his head. “Don’t get any ideas, mate. Louis isn’t much of a relationship person anymore.”

Harry blushed. “What? No. I wasn’t- I didn’t think-“

“Yeah, you were. Not sure if it’s worth it, though.”

Harry finished wiping the tables. Niall told him he could leave, so he grabbed his bag and started walking to his home. It took a few months to accept the place as “home.” He wanted to move back to Holmes Chapel, but he didn’t have that option. He was nearing his drive when he heard yelling.

“Jason, I told you to fuck off!”

Harry’s head snapped up when he heard Louis’s voice. Louis and the guy from the coffee shop were standing in the front yard of a house a few down from Harry’s.

“And I told you not to speak to me like that,” Jason spat. He took a step towards Louis. Louis stood his ground.

“I don’t have to listen to you,” Louis snapped. “We have been done for a few months now. Why can’t you get that through your thick skull?”

“Because I know you’re going to come crawling back to me,” Jason said. “They always do.”

“I haven’t yet, so I’m not going to. Go find someone else to fuck, Jason.”

Jason shoved Louis hard, his elbows hitting the sidewalk behind him as he fell. “You better watch your back, Tomlinson.”

Jason stalked off in the opposite direction. Harry stood frozen in place, unsure of what to do. He could see Louis clenching his jaw. His eyes were watering. Blood was flowing down his arms from the scratches on his elbows. Harry took a tentative step forward.

“Louis?” he said quietly. Louis looked up, eyes widening. “Louis, are you OK?”

“Yeah, yeah,” Louis said. He stood up. “I’m fine.”

“You’re bleeding really badly.”

Louis shrugged. “Eh, I fell. Happens a lot.” Harry raised his eyebrow and Louis sighed. “You saw, didn’t you?”

“Yeah. You sure you’re OK?”

“Honestly, I’m fine, Harry, just go home,” Louis said a bit harshly. Harry didn’t move. “Harry, don’t worry about me. Just leave.”

Louis didn’t really give him a choice. He walked into his house, slamming the door shut. Harry stood on the grass. He couldn’t make his feet move. He wanted to check on Louis. He wanted to clean Louis’s elbows for him and make sure he was OK. Instead, he sighed and turned around to head home.

After Louis slammed the door shut, he leaned against it and slid down to the floor. The tears in his eye finally fell. His elbows hurt pretty badly, but he didn’t know how to clean them properly. He slowly stood up and made his way to Zayn’s room.

“Hey, Lou-“

Zayn stopped talking when he looked up. He quickly took Louis to the bathroom and grabbed the first aid kit from the cabinet. He started washing the cuts on Louis’s elbows. He didn’t even have to ask what happened. He just knew.

“I don’t think Jason’s going to give up,” Louis mumbled. “He was waiting for me when I got out of the car. He tried to kiss me!”

“Jason’s an asshole,” Zayn mentioned. “He’s a horrible person who should be locked up in jail after what he did to you.”

Louis sighed. “I know, but I figured maybe if I just ignored him, he’d go away. Clearly not.”

“We could always turn him in, Lou,” Zayn said softly.

“No! No, we really can’t.”

“Why not?”

“Because then his friends would come after me, and I’m pretty sure they’d be worse to me than he ever was and I’d rather just deal with this.”

Things were quiet as Zayn finished putting the bandages on his friend’s elbows. Louis followed him down the hall and crawled into his bed. Zayn pulled him closer. He knew Louis would need someone tonight. He always did. He absentmindedly ran his hand up and down Louis’s arm.

“Harry saw what happened,” Louis said suddenly.

“Harry?”

“The guy from the coffee shop,” Louis added. “The one with the curly hair.” Zayn nodded. “Yeah, I guess he was walking home or something, I’m not really sure. But he came up and asked if I was okay… And I was a huge dick to him.”

Zayn just pulled Louis in even tighter and rubbed his back. “I’m sure he doesn’t mind, Lou. It’ll be fine.”

“Will I ever find somebody, Zayn?” Louis asked after a while.

“Of course,” Zayn replied. “You’re going to find someone who loves you and everything about you. You’re going to find someone perfect for you because you deserve it.”

“Love doesn’t exist,” Louis muttered.

“Yes it does, Louis,” Zayn said sternly. “It does and you’ll find it one day. I promise.”

Louis didn’t respond. He’s had this argument with Zayn more than once. Zayn always tried to convince Louis that love existed, but Louis never gave in. Love didn’t exist and it never will.

-0-

Harry woke up bright and early for his shift at the coffee shop. He showered slowly. He didn’t want to go to work. He hadn’t had a day off in almost two weeks and it was finally starting to get to him. He got dressed and grabbed an apple on the way out the door.

He walked in to the shop just as Niall was changing the ‘closed’ sign to ‘open.’

“Morning!” Niall said brightly.

“Morning,” Harry yawned back.

“Someone’s sleepy,” the blonde mused.

“Couldn’t sleep,” Harry explained. “I was up half the night thinking.”

“About what?” Harry didn’t answer. Niall sighed. “Harry, if you were thinking about Louis, I’m going to tell you now not to bother because he’s-“

“Niall, I just… I saw something yesterday that upset me a little and it kept me up thinking, okay? Nobody said it had anything to do with Louis.”

Niall didn’t press. He went into the kitchen to start getting things ready. Harry made sure the chairs were neat and everything was stocked. They were only open for fifteen minutes when someone walked in. Harry looked up at the chime. Zayn walked in with a very tired looking Louis trailing behind him. Louis caught his eye and gave a sheepish smile.

“Zayn!” Niall yelled. “Haven’t seen you here in the mornings for a while.”

“Stayed at home with Louis last night,” Zayn said. Niall gave him a knowing look. “Decided to get him up here earlier than usual so we wouldn’t be late to class.”

“I wasn’t late yesterday!” Louis argued. His voice sounded rough.

“Ah, but you almost were. Just order your drink.”

“Niall knows what I get,” Louis grumbled. He sat down at the bar.

“Zayn, can you help me with a box back here?” Niall asked. “Can’t lift it myself.”

Louis sighed. Niall just wanted to know what happened with Louis yesterday that caused Zayn to stay home. Zayn just nodded and followed Niall to the kitchen.

“Your elbows feeling better?” Harry asked quietly.

Louis finally looked up at him with a small smile. “Yeah, thanks.”

“No prob-“

“Harry, I’m sorry,” Louis blurted.

“Sorry for what?” Harry wondered.

“I’m sorry I was an ass yesterday,” he explained.

Harry shook his head. “I understand. It’s okay.”

“But it shouldn’t be,” Louis said almost desperately. “You weren’t even the one who pissed me off and yet I was still a jerk to you. I had no right to do that and I’m sorry.”

“Louis, really, it’s okay,” Harry insisted. “I’m not mad. I probably would’ve done the same thing you did.”

Louis smiled again. Zayn emerged from the kitchen with both of their drinks.

“C’mon, Lou, we gotta go,” he said.

“Shouldn’t we pay?”

“On the house,” Niall stated. “Now get to class!”

Louis chuckled as he followed Zayn out of the shop. He waved at Harry, who waved back with a smile that looked a bit sad.

“He’s not even mad at me for being a dick,” Louis said once they were in the car. “Like, he just forgave me instantly.”

“I told you it’d be okay,” Zayn said smugly.

“He should hate me,” Louis murmured.

“No, he shouldn’t. He has no reason to hate you.”

“But-“

“No reason whatsoever, Lou.”

“Why does everybody act like I’m always the innocent one?” Louis almost yelled. “I mess up, I mess up a lot, but you always say it’s not my fault. You and sometimes Niall. Hell, even Harry thinks I’m innocent! Said he would’ve done the same thing as me. I’m sick of this!”

Zayn was shocked by the sudden outburst. “Lou, you’ve done nothing wrong, so of course you’re innocent.”

“That’s the thing, though,” Louis said. “I have done things wrong. I fell for the wrong guy, messed up my life by staying with him, I take out my frustration on you a lot, and yet, nobody gets mad!”

“Because we have no reason to get mad!” Zayn yelled back. “Lou, you’ve been through a lot of shit. Nobody is going to blame you for the way you act.”

“And that’s what I’m sick of!” Louis grabbed his back and unbuckled his seatbelt when they stopped at a red light. He opened the door. “Oh, and newsflash, I’m not made of fucking glass and I’m tired of being treated like it!”

He slammed the door. He started walking. He didn’t know where. He didn’t really care, honestly. He just needed to get away. He angrily wiped the tears off his face, biting his lip to stay quiet. It was only when he turned onto a familiar road that he stopped walking. He turned around and tried to get away before he was noticed-

“Louis!”

Louis broke into a full sprint. Jason ran after him. Jason was fast, but Louis was faster. He could hear Jason getting closer, his breath coming in heavy pants. He quickly turned the corner, looking for a place to go. He saw the coffee shop and ran even faster. He yanked the door open and ran inside.

“Niall!” he yelled. He ignored Harry and went over to where Niall had come out of the kitchen.

“Louis?” Niall asked.

Jason made his way into the shop and closer to Louis. “You little twat! You think you can run from me?”

Louis whimpered and hid behind Niall.

“Get out,” Niall demanded. “Get out now.”

“You can’t kick me out,” Jason sneered.

“Get out before I call the fucking cops!” Niall snapped. “Don’t think I won’t.” He pulled his phone out of his pocket.

Jason gave Louis one last intimidating look before he left. Niall pulled Louis to the closest booth and held him close.

“Shh, Lou, what happened?” he asked quietly.

“I d-don’t even know!” Louis sobbed. “I was just wa-walking and he saw me. I ran a-and he followed me. I don’t know w-what I did wrong this t-time!”

“Louis, you’ve never done anything wrong to him-“

Louis groaned and pushed Niall away. “Maybe not today, but I have before.”

“No, you haven’t.”

Louis was too exhausted to argue. He laid his head down on the table and groaned again.

“You’re staying here till Josh gets here,” Niall said. “I’ll take you home, then. I don’t want you walking home.”

“I’m not a baby,” Louis mumbled. Niall didn’t hear him. Louis didn’t move for a while. He stayed with his head down for a while, shoulders shaking with silent sobs. He didn’t look up until the tears stopped. Harry was staring at him with a worried look. Louis smiled a little and pulled his laptop out of his bag.

“You look like you’re struggling a bit.”

Harry’s voice made him jump slightly. He looked up from his laptop as Harry slid into the seat across from him. He set a cup in front of Louis and took a sip from his own.

“Thanks,” Louis said. “I’m supposed to be writing this essay, but I can’t write an essay over something that doesn’t exist.”

“Sure you can,” Harry shrugged. “What’s it about? Maybe I can help.”

“Don’t you have work?” Louis asked.

“On break,” Harry explained.

Louis smiled. “Okay. Well the essay is supposed to be about soul mates, fate, true love, all that bullshit.”

“I thought you said you were writing about something that doesn’t exist?”

“I am.”

Harry raised his eyebrow. “You don’t believe in love?”

Louis shook his head. “I used to, but not anymore. Do you?”

Harry nodded. “Yeah, I believe in all of that- fate, true love, soul mates, everything.”

“It must be great to have an optimistic view on things,” Louis muttered.

Harry grabbed Louis’s hand and squeezed it a little. “You can, too, if you just try.”

Louis shook his head. “No, I can’t. Those things just don’t work for me. Never have, never will.”

“So you’re telling me you’ve never been in love?”

“I thought I was once,” Louis said quietly, “but it wasn’t love. It was hurt. It was hurt and hatred and everything else, but it definitely wasn’t love. I don’t think I’ll ever fall in love, honestly. It’s not real.”

Niall came over then, saying it was time to take Louis home. Louis left without a goodbye, leaving Harry to his thoughts.

How could someone not believe in love? Love was… Love was amazing. It was the best feeling in the world, as far as Harry was concerned. He could tell that something caused Louis to not believe in love. He wanted to help Louis see that things could change.

He wanted to help Louis fall in love.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So so sorry it took forever! I just didn't get much feedback so I didn't know if people were even interested, but I'm still going to write. I've got the next chapter planned out so hopefully it won't take as long!  
> Feedback is always appreciated! :)

“Lou, can you babysit tonight and tomorrow?” Jay asked over the phone. “The sitter cancelled and I can’t back out of this trip.”

“Of course, mum,” Louis answered. “As long as you promise to stay at ours. The meeting is in town and there’s no point in you getting a hotel.”

“Thank you,” she replied. “I can’t wait to see you. I’ve missed you so much.”

Louis swallowed thickly. “I miss you, too. Tell the girls I love them. Love you, too, mum.”

“Love you always.”

“I’ve got to go. Class starts soon.”

“Okay, boo. I’ll be heading down there now! Be there soon.”

Louis hung up the phone and plugged it back in. Yeah, class starts soon, but he didn’t feel like showing up today. He was still a bit shaken up from the Jason incident yesterday.

“Did I hear that my favorite girls are visiting this weekend?” Zayn asked when he walked into the living room.

Louis chuckled. “Yeah, they are. Mum’s sitter cancelled and her meeting is in town. They’ll be down here in a few hours, so I’m going to stay home from class and clean. Get my work for me?”

“Fine,” Zayn sighed dramatically. “You know, eventually you will have to show up to pass, Tomlinson.”

“I rarely ever skip, thank you!”

Zayn rolled his eyes. “Whatever, Lou.” He smiled. “See you when I get back.”

The first thing Louis did was change clothes. He stared at his bare stomach in the mirror and traced the scars with his fingers.  He thought back to the first time Jason hit him-the first time he took the blade to his skin.

_“Jason, I’m sorry!” Louis said. “I didn’t realize you wanted to hang out today. If you would’ve told me, I would’ve cancelled my plans with Zayn.”_

_“You’re mine,” Jason growled. “I shouldn’t have to tell you when. You should know that you’re always going to be with me.” He brought his hand up._

_“Jason, please don’t,” Louis begged._

_Jason’s hand collided with Louis’s face with a sickening slap._

Louis blinked away the tears as he put his shirt on. He needed coffee. Bad.

Niall raised an eyebrow when Louis walked into the shop. “Skipping class today?”

“Yeah,” Louis shrugged. “Mum and the girls are coming down tonight and staying for the weekend. No way am I letting them stay in a hotel, so I’m cleaning today. I just need my coffee first.”

“Make sure to bring them by here,” Niall mentioned. “I’ve missed Jay.”

“I’m so sorry I’m late!” Harry panted as he ran into the shop. “My alarm didn’t go off and my mum had to work early this morning and-“

“Harry, calm down mate,” Niall laughed. “You’re only like ten minutes late and we’re not even busy.” He continued making Louis’s drink.

“Hey, Harry,” Louis said quietly. He smiled.

“Hey,” Harry breathed. “How are you? Get any of that essay done?”

“Yeah, I’m about halfway done with it, I think,” Louis replied. “Hopefully I finish it on time.”

“I’m sure you will,” Harry smiled.

Louis paid and drove back to his house to start cleaning.

“Definitely ordering pizza tonight,” he muttered as he stared as his near empty fridge. 

Louis cleaned for three hours straight. He made sure his room and both of the guest rooms were spotless for the girls. He sat down to take a break and heard a car pull into the driveway. He walked outside only to be tackled by the twins.

“Louis!” they shrieked.

Louis laughed and hugged them close. “I’ve missed you!”

“We’ve missed you, too,” Daisy said.

“Do we get to stay here this weekend?” Phoebe asked excitedly. Louis nodded.

“Lou, can you help with the bags?” Jay asked. Louis jogged over to her and hugged her.

“Of course,” he said. He helped get the suitcases out of the van and put them against the house. “Lottie and Fiz are in my room, Daisy and Phoebe are in the guest room downstairs, and you’ll be in the upstairs room.”

“Where are you going to sleep?”

Louis shrugged. “On the couch. Or maybe in Zayn’s room.”

“Nonsense,” Jay tutted. “I’ll be on the couch. You stay in your room.”

“Mum, no!” Louis protested. “I’ll be fine, okay? I want you to be as comfortable as possible.”

Jay sighed. “Fine. You win, but only because my first meeting starts in twenty minutes. I’m afraid I won’t be home for dinner tonight, but I’ll cook for you tomorrow.”

“I’m just ordering pizza tonight. You aren’t missing much. Now get to your meeting! I’ve got the girls.”

She kissed him on the forehead and got in the van.

“Alright, let’s get this stuff inside,” he said when she drove off. “Jesus Christ, Lottie, you’re here for a weekend, not a month.”

“I wanted to be prepared!” Lottie defended.

“By that, she means she wanted a different outfit to wear for each time she sees Zayn this weekend,” Fiz snickered. Lottie hit her shoulder. “Hey!”

“Louis, can we draw with chalk?” Daisy asked. “Mummy let us bring some and said to ask if we could.”

Louis glanced at the older girls. “You two think you can handle being in here alone without killing each other, or do you need to come outside with me?”

Lottie rolled her eyes. “We’ll be fine.”

“Alright, but I’m leaving the door open just in case. You two are in my room.” Fiz opened her mouth to protest. “Don’t worry, it’s clean. I spent three hours cleaning for you girls, so be grateful.”

Louis took the twins outside to draw.

“Lou, I wanna trace you!” Phoebe exclaimed. “Can I?”

Louis chuckled and laid on the concrete. “Trace away!”

The girls each took a side of him and started tracing, giggling every now and then. He got up when they were done so they could finish drawing him.

“What do you think, Lou?”

“It’s wonderful!”

“It’s a spitting image, I’d say,” a voice said from behind him. He jumped.

“Harry?” he asked.

“Yeah,” Harry said, smiling sheepishly. “I was walking home and saw you, so I thought I’d say hi.”

Louis smiled.

“Louis, who is this?” Daisy asked.

“This is Harry,” Louis said. “Harry, this is Daisy and Phoebe, my little sisters.”

“Hi, Harry,” Daisy said. “I like your hair. It’s really curly. Can I touch it?”

“Daisy!”

“It’s fine,” Harry laughed. He sat on the ground so Daisy could reach it. “I don’t mind.”

“They’re so soft!” Daisy giggled. “Phoebe, come feel!”

Louis groaned in embarrassment as his little sisters continued to run their hands through Harry’s hair.

“Louis, Fiz won’t turn her stupid music off and I’m about to-“ Lottie cut off when she saw Harry. “Who’s this?”

“This is my friend Harry,” Louis said. He pretended not to notice Harry’s smile.

“You have friends other than Zayn?” Lottie asked.

“Hey! Yes, I have friends other than Zayn, thank you!”

“Oh, right. Forgot about Niall.” Louis threw chalk at her. “Louis! This is a white shirt!”

“That’s what bleach is for.” He sighed. “Harry, this is my other sister, Lottie. Fiz is in the house somewhere, apparently listening to music.”

“Can you tell her to put headphones in?” Lottie asked. “If she doesn’t, I’m shoving her iPod-“

“Lottie!” Louis groaned. “Harry, can you watch them while I run inside really quickly?”

“Sure,” Harry smiled. Louis bit back his smile. He followed Lottie inside.

“You fancy him,” she said smugly.

Louis tripped over the first step. “What?!”

“Please, Lou, every time you looked at him out there, you smiled,” she explained. “And the fact that you’re trusting him with Daisy and Phoebe? You totally fancy him.”

“I do not!” Louis denied. “He’s just a friend. I’ve only known him for a few days. What do you know, anyways? You’re just a kid!”

“I’m thirteen, thank you. And I’m old enough to know when someone has a crush.”

“A crush? Please, you’re making _me_ sound thirteen.”

“Fiz, Louis has a crush on the guy outside!” Lottie yelled as she ran up the steps.

“Lottie!”

“Ooh, I wanna see!” Fiz smiled. She followed Lottie and ran back outside.

Louis groaned and ran after them. “I do not-“

Harry was laying on his back while the girls traced him. He had flowers in his hair and chalk on his face. “When do I get to move?” he whined.

“Not yet!” Daisy said sternly.

“We have to finish first!” Phoebe chimed in.

Louis could fight the smile that spread across his face. If Harry was already getting along with his family, then-

Lottie nudged Louis with her elbow and raised her eyebrows.

“Lottie, for the last time, no!” Louis huffed.

Harry tilted his head back and smiled at Louis for a brief second.

“Girls, I think it’s time to let Harry go home,” Louis said. “It’s almost time for dinner anyways. By the time we get you cleaned up, the pizza will be here.”

“But I don’t want Harry to leave,” Phoebe pouted.

“I can come back tomorrow,” Harry said.

“Or I can take the girls up to the coffee shop if you work tomorrow,” Louis suggested. “Niall wanted to see them, so I could take them there for breakfast or something.”

“Alright,” Harry smiled. “I go in at nine, so I’ll see you then?”

“Nine it is.” Louis smiled. “Bye, Harry.”

“Bye, Louis.”

As soon as Harry was out of sight, Lottie and Fiz started squealing.

“He’s really cute,” Fiz said. “I approve.”

“And did you see the way Harry smiled at him?” Lottie gushed. “They totally like each other!”

Louis ushered them in the house and ordered Lottie and Fiz to clean the girls up for dinner. He texted Zayn.

_Help please xx_

The response was almost immediate.

**_Almost home. Girls already there?_ **

_Yes. Lottie and Fiz are going to strangle each other soon and I don’t think I have it in me to stop them._

Zayn walked in then. “Where are my favorite girls?”

All four girls ran down the stairs and hugged him.

“Louis has a crush on the cute guy with the curly hair from the coffee shop!” Fiz yelled.

Zayn raised his eyebrow at a blushing Louis. “A crush? Really, now?” he asked.

“I do not have a crush on Harry,” Louis argued. “He’s just my friend. Barely that! We haven’t known each other long.”

“He totally has a crush,” Lottie fake whispered. “And besides, you’ve obviously known him long enough to trust him to watch the twins alone.”

“Wait, what?” Zayn said. “It took like a month before you would leave the twins alone with me.”

“Well, I felt like Lottie was going to kill Fizzy, so I needed to stop that argument and I couldn’t leave the girls outside alone, and Harry was already here and-“

Zayn interrupted. “He was already here?”

Louis rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. “Well, yeah. He was walking home from work and saw us. He decided to say hi.”

“God, that kid has it bad already,” Zayn muttered.

-0-

Harry made sure to show up a bit early for his shift that morning. He didn’t want a repeat of yesterday and embarrass himself in front of Louis again. He blushed in spite of himself as he put his apron on and prepared for work.

“Why are you so jittery this morning?” Niall asked.

“What?” Harry said. “Jittery? I’m not jittery.”

“Harry.”

“Louis’s bringing his family in and I’m kind of nervous,” Harry admitted.

“And you two made plans for this?” Niall said.

“Kind of, I think,” Harry said. “I saw him yesterday and-“

Harry was cut off.

“Harry!”

He looked up to see Daisy and Phoebe squealing and running towards him. He leaned down to catch them both in a hug.

“Hi, girls!” he said happily.

“Where’s my hugs, girls?” Niall whined.

“You don’t get any because you don’t have curly hair like Harry,” Daisy said. She stuck out her tongue. Niall faked a hurt expression. “Just kidding!”

She ran over to hug Niall.

“Sorry about that,” Louis said when he walked up. “I didn’t think they’d be this hyper, but as soon as I mentioned your name, they were up and ready to go. I think they love you more than me.”

“Nah, I’m just someone new,” Harry said. “They’ll get bored of me soon.”

“I highly doubt that,” Louis remarked. “Girls, tell Niall what you want for breakfast.” He turned back towards Harry. “I don’t think you realize that once the girls attach on to you, they won’t want to let go. It’s going to be hard to get them to leave Sunday night.”

“I guess they’ll just have to come visit more.”

“I’d be okay with that.” Louis smiled. “I don’t get to see them nearly as often as I’d like. I miss them a lot.”

Louis sighed. Part of him wished he would’ve never left home, but he was young and naïve at the time. He thought he was in love. He thought that he found his perfect match.

Boy was he wrong.

He quickly wrote his number down on a napkin and handed it to Harry before he walked out the door.

“Just, you know, if you wanna talk or something,” Louis said shyly.

Harry smiled. “Yeah, I’ll text you on my break, okay?”

“Okay,” Louis breathed.

Maybe Lottie was right. Maybe he did have a crush.

-0-

“Louis, can Harry come over?”

Louis looked up from his phone to find Daisy staring at him from the opposite side of the couch. “Hmm?”

“I said, can Harry come over?” she repeated. “I miss him.”

“You just saw him this morning,” Louis said.

“But I still miss him!” she pouted.

“Miss who?” Jay asked when she entered the living room.

“Harry,” Daisy answered.

“And who’s Harry?”

“He’s a friend of mine,” Louis replied. “He stopped by on his way home from work yesterday because he saw me and the girls outside. He played with them for a bit and I guess they kind of got attached.”

“And they saw him this morning?”

“Yeah, he works at the coffee shop with Niall,” Louis shrugged. “Told him I’d bring them by, plus Ni wanted to see them.”

“Invite him to dinner,” Jay said. Louis’s eyes widened.

“What?”

“I bought more than enough spaghetti, darling,” she said. “Just invite him.”

“I can’t do that.”

“Why not?”

“Because Louis has a crush on him,” Lottie snickered from the chair.

“I do not!” Louis protested.

Jay raised an eyebrow. “Well, if you don’t have a crush on him, and the girls love him, I see no reason not to invite him. I expect to meet him tonight. Dinner is at six.”

Louis groaned and unlocked his phone.

_‘Hey... Daisy was talking about wanting to see you.’_

The response was instant. Louis bit back a smile knowing that Harry was waiting for him to text.

**_‘I can swing by if you want? I’m off and not busy.’_ **

_‘Well, mum wanted me to invite you to dinner tonight… Only if you want, though. She’s making spaghetti.’_

**_‘I’d love that :)’_ **

“Louis, you’re blushing and smiling like a middle school girl talking to her crush,” Lottie said. “You’re only asking him to come over. It’s not even a real date considering all of us are here.”

“Oh, shush it, you,” Louis said. He opened a new message.

_‘Alright :) Dinner is at 6.’_

**_‘What do I wear?’_ **

_‘Jeans? It doesn’t have to be fancy. It’s just dinner at my place.’_

**_‘Okay. See you at 6 then!’_ **

Louis ran upstairs and looked in his closet. “Zayn!”

Zayn poked his head in. “Ya?”

“Help me find something to wear tonight?” Louis asked.

“Okay,” Zayn said. He walked over to Louis. “Why? It’s just dinner here, right?”

“Yeah, but,” Louis stopped awkwardly.

“But what?” Zayn urged.

“I may have invited Harry,” Louis mumbled. He slapped his hand over Zayn’s mouth to stop his comment. “Don’t need your talk, Zayn, just help me find something good to wear!”

Louis settled on a faded black v neck and his red skinny jeans. He didn’t bother with shoes. He sat on the couch and bounced his leg nervously. He couldn’t stop thinking about everything that could go wrong. What if Louis dropped food on himself? What if his sisters started a food fight again? What if his family scared Harry away? What if-

He was brought out of his thoughts by the doorbell.

Lottie raced passed him. “I’ll get it!”

“Lottie, let Louis answer it!” Jay scolded from the kitchen. “Go back upstairs and help Fiz get the twins ready for dinner!”

Lottie pouted and walked back upstairs. Louis hesitated in front of the door.  Slowly, he reached out and turned the handle. His breath caught in his throat.

Harry looked gorgeous.

He had on a button up, blue, flannel shirt that made his already bright eyes seem even brighter. He had on black skinny jeans that seemed to be cutting of his circulation. His white converse looked worn, but still amazing. He couldn’t help but stare.

“Hi,” Harry said with an amused smile.

Louis blushed. “Hey,” he said. He stepped to the side. “Come on in. The girls are upstairs getting ready, but I’m sure Lottie already let them know that you’re here, so prepared to be attacked.”

“Alright,” Harry laughed.

“I’m not sure where Zayn is,” Louis shrugged. “Probably in his room. Mum’s in the kitchen finishing up dinner.”

There was a crash from upstairs. Jay walked out of the kitchen. “Lou, can you check on- Oh, hi.”

“Mum, this is Harry.”

Harry shook her hand. “Nice to meet you, Mrs. Tomlinson,” he said.

“Call me Jay,” she smiled. “Nice to meet you, too. Louis, please check on the twins.”

Louis sighed loudly and walked up the stairs. “Daisy! Phoebe! Harry is here and you’re not allowed downstairs to see him until you’re dressed and you’ve cleaned up whatever mess you two have made!” He disappeared around the corner.

“They’ve become quite attached to you,” she said.

“Yeah,” Harry blushed. “I guess they have.”

“It seems Louis has, too,” she mused.

“Wh-what?” Harry stuttered. He was blushing even harder.

“Nothing, nothing,” she said smiling. “Lottie just thinks that Lou might have a little crush on you. Looks like you have one on him, too.” She winked.

“What? No. I just- It’s-we’re only friends.”

She laughed. “I know, Harry. I’m just messing.”

Dinner went surprisingly well. Lottie kept smirking at Louis every time he would smile or giggle at something Harry said. He and Jay got along perfectly. It was the happiest Louis had been in a while.

“I’m glad you could come tonight,” Louis said as he walked Harry to the door.

“I’m glad, too.” Harry smiled.

“Harry, don’t leave!” Daisy said. She ran up and hugged his leg.

“Stay!” Phoebe agreed, hugging his other one.

“Awe, I’ve got to go home,” Harry said. He got down to their level. “I have to be at work early tomorrow. I’ll see you soon, though, okay?”

The twins nodded. He kissed them both on the cheek and they ran back to the living room. Louis followed Harry to his car in silence.

“So,” Harry said awkwardly. “I’ll see you tomorrow?”

“Of course, Harry,” Louis said softly. He hesitated, but wrapped his arms around Harry’s waist. He was immediately trapped in Harry’s arms for a few seconds. They both stepped back. “Bye, Harry.”

Jay plopped down on the couch beside Louis with a heavy sigh. The girls were finally asleep and Zayn was at a friend’s house.

“Alright, boo, spill,” Jay said suddenly. Louis raised an eyebrow at her. “Tell me what’s wrong, love. I know something’s off. I can tell. I am your mother, after all.”

Louis sighed. “I’m not really sure,” he said. “I don’t know if it’s Harry or… Jason.”

Jay’s eyes went cold. “What did Jason do this time?”

“Nothing,” Louis said quickly. He inwardly cursed at the habit. “I mean, nothing major. He just… He saw me when I was walking and chased me to the coffee shop.” He looked down. “Niall was there, luckily.”

“There’s something else,” Jay commented.

“Fine. He may have stopped by the house a couple days before you called because he saw me outside. He started yelling at me.” He took a deep breath. “And then he may or may not have shoved me onto the concrete.”

Jay gasped. “Lou, you can’t let this continue! You need to-“

“Mum, I know, okay? I know. Can we just… Can we talk about something else?”

“Okay,” she whispered. Then a little louder, “What about Harry?”

A small smile appeared on Louis’s face just from the name. “What about Harry?”

“He seems to make you happy.”

“I barely know the kid.” He shook his head. “I’ve only known him since Wednesday. Met him at the shop. I’ve seen him every day since then. Apparently, he’s new in town and he walks by the house every day on his way home.”

“What’s he like?” she asked.

Louis scoffed. “You met him tonight, didn’t you?” She didn’t respond. “I don’t know, mum. He makes me smile and laugh, which is really hard to do now. I really like being around him, but…”

“But?” she prompted.

“But I just don’t know if I’m ready for anything like that right now.”

Jay pulled him close. “Then explain that to him. The kid is crushing on you so hard.”

“I can’t tell him about Jason,” Louis protested. “I mean, I shouldn’t tell him about Jason, should I?”

“That’s up to you,” she spoke softly. “I think if you just told him you wanted to take things slow, he’d understand. Tell him you’re not ready, but you’d love to be friends. He makes you happy, Lou. I can tell. He’d be good for you.”

Louis smiled up at her. “Thanks, mum.”


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Gah, sorry it took so long! Enjoy :) xx  
> Also, there's a small part that mentions an attempted suicide just in case that's a trigger for anybody, but it's very brief and doesn't go into horrible details.

“Harry, I can see the hearts in your eyes and you’re only texting,” Liam commented. “I want to know details.”

Harry sighed and rolled over on his bed. He stared at Liam. He raised an eyebrow.

“He’s amazing,” Harry smiled. “He’s so funny and cute and caring and he loves his family so much and he’s adorable and small and-“

“Breathe, Harry,” Liam reminded him. “Who is the bloke anyway?”

Harry’s smile faltered. “I’m not sure if I should say because you’ll just say the same thing Niall did.”

“What?”

“He doesn’t believe in love,” Harry explained. “Apparently he hasn’t had a good history with relationships, but I really want to change that. I just don’t know if he’ll give me the chance.”

“What’s his name, Harry?”

“Louis,” Harry sighed. “Louis Tomlinson.”

Liam’s face softened. “Harry…”

“I know, I know. I shouldn’t even bother, right?”

“I wasn’t going to say that,” Liam argued. “I was going to say I hope you know what you’re getting into. Louis can be a bit of a handful sometimes. He just needs someone to show him that not all relationships are bad and love doesn’t always end horribly. And I think you might just be the person to do it.”

“You think so?”

Liam smiled. “Yeah.”

-0-

Harry’s hands were sweating. He drummed his fingers against the counter. He knew Louis would be in soon for breakfast with his family. He had told Niall last night. Harry busied himself by cleaning tables and counters that were already clean. It was a Sunday morning, so they hadn’t been busy. He looked up when the door chimed.

Jay walked in first, carrying Phoebe. Fiz and Lottie were next. Louis was last, Daisy half asleep in his arms. He looked exhausted, but he smiled when he caught Harry’s eyes.

“Good morning,” Harry said.

Louis put Daisy down, forcing her to wake up. “Morning,” he replied. “The girls actually stayed up later than I thought they did, so they’re still half asleep. Not too awake myself.”

“Oh yeah?” Harry asked. “What kept you up?”

Louis tensed for a brief moment. “Had a little heart to heart with my mum. Doesn’t get to happen often, so I take advantage of it when I can.”

“Harry, good to see you again,” Jay smiled when she walked up to the counter.

“You too,” Harry replied.

Niall’s voice came from the kitchen. “Is that Jay I hear?”

“It’s me, Niall,” she laughed. He walked out and pulled her into a hug. “It’s good to see you.”

“You need to visit more,” Niall said sternly. “This whole once every few months thing doesn’t work for me.”

“I’ll try,” Jay promised.

Since there were no other customers, they all ate breakfast together.  Louis was determined to sit by Harry -a fact which Lottie couldn’t help but smirk at- and kept bumping their knees together. Harry was starting to get nervous again.

Harry caught Louis’s attention right before he left. “Lou!”

“Yeah, Harry?”

Jay looked between the two boys. “We’ll be in the car, Louis.” He nodded at her and looked back at Harry.

“I was just wondering if, um, maybe you’d like to, uh, go out sometime?” Harry asked shyly. “Like, on a date?” Harry looked up.

“Oh,” Louis said awkwardly. “Harry… It’s nothing against you, I swear, but I just don’t really _do_ dates. At least, not much.”

“Oh, that’s fine,” Harry mumbled.

“Harry look at me.” Louis tilted Harry’s chin up. “Maybe we should get to know each other better first and see where things go from there, okay?”

Harry smiled. “Sounds good to me.”

“Why don’t you come over tonight?” Louis suggested. “I’m having movie night with the girls because they’re leaving first thing tomorrow morning. They’d love for you to be there, I’m sure.”

“Yeah, yeah. I’ll be there.”

“Hey, like I said, it’s nothing against you, okay?”

Harry nodded. “See you tonight, Louis.”

-0-

“You did _what?_ ”

“I may have asked Louis out on a date,” Harry repeated.

“Harry, I thought I told you not to bother!” Niall groaned.

“Hey, things didn’t turn out bad!”

“Wait, did he actually say yes?” Niall asked.

“Not exactly,” Harry shrugged. “He said he doesn’t really do dates. He suggested getting to know each other better and seeing where things go from there… And then he invited me over for movie night with his sisters.”

Niall fell into one of the chairs. “Ugh, I just feel like this won’t end well.”

“I’m not going to hurt him, I promise.”

“I don’t think you’ll do it on purpose, mate, but there’s a lot you don’t know about Louis.”

“Which is exactly why he said for us to get to know each other better first.”

-0-

“What if he doesn’t show up? What if he finds something better to do? Oh god. Jason never bothered with coming over to see my family, but Harry is and this is scary because dinner was one thing, but this is _movie night_ so nobody knows how long it’ll last, and I’m such a baby when it comes to movies. What if he laughs at me? What if-“

Zayn slapped his hand over Louis’s mouth. “Louis, breathe. Please. It’s movie night, not a date, okay? And it’s not going to do anybody any good if you hyperventilate.”

“What should I wear? Should I keep jeans on, or maybe pajama pants or sweats?” Louis took a deep breath. “Maybe pajama pants since I usually fall asleep during movie night.”

“Whatever you’re comfortable in,” Zayn shrugged. “And I’d make it fast because I’m pretty sure Harry just got here.”

Louis heard the girls squealing downstairs.

“Lou, Harry’s here!” Jay called out.

“Be right down,” Louis squeaked. He quickly pulled on plaid pajama pants and kept the same t-shirt he was wearing earlier. He jogged down the stairs.

Did Harry ever _not_ look breathtaking?

He had on simple grey sweatpants with a white jumper. He had a small smile on his face, but it grew when Louis came into sight. They both just kind of stared at each other before Lottie cleared her throat.

“It’s time to watch movies, boys,” she said sweetly. “Now sit down.”

The girls had already taken the couch and chair. Louis sat on the floor in front of the couch and patted the spot next to him. Harry sat down and they both leaned back. Louis pulled a blanket over them.

Louis didn’t really pay attention to the movie. All he could focus on was _harryharryharry_ and the way their thighs were touching. He saw the way Harry kept glancing at him out of the corner of his eye. He wanted to scoot closer, but he didn’t dare. Harry sat still. Harry…

Harry just really wanted to kiss Louis.

Harry gasped quietly at the thought. Louis gave him a questioning look, but he shook his head. He turned his attention back on the movie and forced himself to pay attention.

About halfway through the movie, Louis’s eyelids started to droop. He leaned his head down, but caught it and quickly raised it again. He stifled a yawn. Goosebumps appeared on his arms.

“Here,” Harry said quietly. He took his jumper off and handed it to Louis. “You’re arms are freezing. Wear this.”

Louis shook his head. “But then you’ll get cold.”

“I’ll be fine,” Harry assured.

Hesitantly, Harry put his arm around Louis and pulled him close. Louis’s head went to rest on Harry’s shoulder. He was out within minutes. Harry lay his head on Louis’s and fell asleep shortly after.

Jay looked up to see Lottie smirking. She followed Lottie’s eyes and smiled. Harry and Louis were both asleep, leaning on each other. She gave Lottie a stern look and motioned for her to take the girls upstairs. Harry’s phone buzzed from its spot on the coffee table. It was a text from his mum asking when he was going to be home. Jay snapped a picture and opened up a new picture message.

_‘Hi, this is Jay, Louis’s mum. I’m not too sure Harry’s going to be home tonight, unless you need me to wake him up. Seems the movie was too boring for them :)’_

The response was almost instant.

‘ ** _Well isn’t that adorable! He can stay, it’s fine. As long as you’re okay with it? x’_**

_‘Perfectly fine with me :)’_

During the night, the two boys managed to lie down beside each other. Louis woke up wrapped in Harry’s arms and panicked. He stood up slowly, careful not to wake Harry. He half jogged, half walked into the kitchen to find his mum standing in front of the oven.

“Why didn’t you wake us?” he hissed quietly.

Jay jumped a bit, turning to face Louis. “I didn’t see the need to,” she shrugged. “You both looked comfortable enough.”

“You know how much I cuddle when I sleep,” Louis said. “I barely know the kid! He’s probably freaked out now.”

“Lou, you were cuddled into him before he fell asleep. I’m sure he would’ve said something if it bothered him.”

Louis sighed and sat at the table. Jay walked up and started rubbing his back.

“What’s on your mind, boo?”

“It’s just weird,” Louis said. “Ever since Jason, the only guy I feel comfortable cuddling with, even innocently, is Zayn. I just… I feel like Jason just fucked everything up for me.”

“That’s because he’s a dick,” Jay said coldly. Louis gaped at her.

“Mum!”

“It’s true!” She sat beside him. “Louis, look at me. Yes, Jason changed the way you look at things, but that doesn’t mean you’ll never look at them like you used to. You’ve got to find someone who’s worth your time and who’s going to treat you right, and I think Harry will.”

“I’m used goods, nobody’s going to want me,” Louis muttered.

“That’s a lie and you know it.” Then softer, “Harry’s different than Jason.”

“I know.”

Harry chose that moment to stumble into the kitchen, rubbing his eyes and yawning.

“The girls are packing up their stuff,” Jay commented. “We’re about to leave. There are donuts on the counter if you boys are hungry. I’m going to check to see if they’re almost ready.”

“I’m sorry about last night,” Louis said when they were alone.

“What about last night?” Harry asked.

“For being all… cuddly,” Louis explained. “I honestly thought my mom would wake us up or something.”

“There’s no reason to be sorry, Louis,” Harry said. “I’m sure we were both guilty of cuddling.”

Louis opened his mouth to speak, but Daisy ran in and jumped on his lap.

“I don’t want to leave!” she whined. “I wanna stay here with Louis!”

“I’m sorry, Daisy, but we have to leave now,” Jay said. “We’ll come back and visit soon. She cried when Zayn said bye before he went to class.”

Louis helped Jay pack up the car while Harry stayed in the kitchen to give them privacy.

“I’m gonna miss you,” Louis said quietly. “You have to come back soon, mum.”

“I will,” she promised. “Keep me updated on Harry, yeah?”

Louis wanted to tell her there wouldn’t be anything to be updated on, but he just smiled. “Yeah.”

Harry was looking down when Louis walked back into the kitchen. He almost looked guilty.

“Harry?”

He looked up then. He chewed on his bottom lip. “What did your mom mean when she said I was different than Jason?”

Louis stopped in his tracks and stared at Harry wide-eyed. “What?”

“Sorry, I just… I didn’t mean to listen,” Harry said sheepishly. “I heard her mention something about finding someone who’s worth your time and then I heard her say I was different than Jason.” Louis remained quiet. “Is he that guy that pushed you on the concrete the first day we met?”

“Yeah,” Louis finally responded. “Jason’s my ex-boyfriend. Mum didn’t like him too much, honestly.”

“Lou-“

“How about I make us some tea and we can talk about this on the couch?”

Harry nodded and walked into the living room.

Louis braced himself against the counter and took a deep breath. He wasn’t sure how much he actually wanted to tell Harry, but he wanted to tell him _something,_ anything about his past.

Harry fiddled with the end of his shirt nervously. He already knew a little bit about Jason, but it was still going to be painful to listen to. He looked up when Louis sat down. He looked just as nervous as Harry felt.

“You don’t have to tell me anything you don’t want to,” Harry said gently. “I’ll understand.”

“I want to tell you,” Louis said. “Well, maybe not all of it. But it’ll be nice to have someone besides Zayn and my mum to talk to this about.”

“As long as you’re sure.”

Louis nodded. “Jason and I started dating when I was sixteen. He was nineteen and I thought it was so cool to have an older boyfriend.” Harry opened his mouth, and then closed it. “Harry, you can ask questions if you want. Can’t be positive that I’ll answer them, though.”

“Was he your first boyfriend?” Harry asked.

“Yeah,” Louis smiled a little. “I thought I had found the love of my life.” Harry raised an eyebrow. “I believed in love back then, but I was so young and naïve. The first two years of our relationship was wonderful. He was sweet and caring… But things changed so fast.

“He convinced me to move in with him in London when I turned eighteen. I shouldn’t have, but I did. I left Doncaster and all my family to move in with him. I visited every weekend for the first couple of months, but then it stopped. He said my family was taking too much of my time and I wasn’t with him enough. I still thought I was in love, so I agreed to stop the visits.

“He, um, wasn’t very nice after that. Once he realized that I’d do almost anything he asked, he took advantage of it. It got to the point where he wouldn’t even ask me to do things, he would just expect it. One time I didn’t and…” Louis paused. Tears filled his eyes and fell down his cheeks. “That was the first time Jason ever hit me and it sure as hell wasn’t the last.

“I don’t really want to go into details about all of that right now,” Louis said.

“That’s fine,” Harry assured him. There were tears falling down his face, too. “I just… How long did it go on?”

“Almost two years,” Louis admitted. “We just broke up about six months ago when Zayn moved to London. We’ve known each other for a long time. I went to visit him and he noticed a few bruises on my arms. He demanded to know the truth and he helped me get the courage to leave Jason and that’s when I moved in here.”

“Zayn’s a good friend.”

Louis laughed a little. “Yeah, he really is. I’m so fucked up, yet he still deals with me.”

“You’re not fucked up, Lou.”

“Believe me, Harry. I really am. I’m over emotional. I still have nightmares. Half the time, Zayn can’t have a social life on the weekends because he’s busy taking care of me and making sure I’m okay. He shouldn’t have to, but he does.”

“He does that because he cares about you, Louis.” Harry bit his lip. “You know, I’m here if you need to talk, too, Louis. It doesn’t matter what time it is. If you have a nightmare or something and just want to talk, you can call me. I’ll answer.”

Louis shook his head. “I’ve already burdened you enough with my problems, I’m not-“

“You really haven’t.  I haven’t known you long, but I care about you, Louis. I do. Friends are there to talk when you need them.”

“I- Thank you, Harry.”

“You’re welcome.”

Louis took a deep breath. “I tried to kill myself once, you know.”

Harry gasped. “What?”

“It was about a year ago,” Louis explained. “I was tired of Jason and wanted to be free again. Jason was out of town for the weekend, so I took the opportunity. Niall had a spare key to mine and Jason’s flat, though, not that Jason knew that. He came over because he was worried about me. I was ignoring everybody’s phone calls. He found me in the bathtub.” Louis traced one of the scars on his wrist. Harry’s eyes followed. “I barely remember him yelling my name before I blacked out.”

Harry couldn’t take his eyes off Louis’s wrist. He had never noticed the scars before. There were too many for just one time, but Harry didn’t want to think about that. “Lou…”

“I thought I was finally going to get away from everything,” Louis choked out, “but I didn’t.”

A sob broke through Louis’s lips and he doubled over on the couch. Harry immediately pulled him close and started rubbing his back.

“Shh,” Harry whispered. “It’s okay, Louis, it’s okay. I’m here. You’re okay.”

Harry held Louis while he cried. He couldn’t help but cry as well. Seeing Louis like this was heartbreaking.  He rocked them back and forth until Louis’s cries got quieter. Louis’s breathing evened out and he fell asleep in Harry’s arms.

Zayn came in not long after that. His eyes widened at the scene on the couch.

“What’s going on?”

“Louis cried himself to sleep,” Harry sniffed. “He, uh, he told me a little bit about Jason. Not all of it, though. He started crying, then I started crying, and then he fell asleep.”

Zayn’s expression softened. “It’s quite the story, isn’t it?”

“I barely heard any of it, but I’m not sure I want to hear all of it,” Harry admitted. “All I know is that Jason hit him.” Zayn looked down. “It’s worse than that, isn’t it?”

“So much worse,” Zayn nodded. “Anyways, thanks for holding him through that. Usually I do, but I’m sure he appreciates that you were here.”

“It’s no problem.”

“If you want, you can just take him up to his room. Or I can, it doesn’t matter.”

Harry stood up and held Louis close to him. “I’ll carry him. It’s fine.”

Zayn pointed to the stairs. “First door on the left. I’ll be up there soon… Unless you plan on staying?”

“I should really get home,” Harry admitted. “I’m not even sure if I was supposed to stay the night, honestly.”

Zayn chuckled. “Alright. Thanks, again. Seriously.”

Harry carefully made his way up the stairs and to Louis’s room. He laid Louis down.

“Harry?” Louis asked sleepily.

“It’s me,” Harry smiled. “I’m gonna leave now, okay? Zayn’s home.”

“Your jumper,” Louis mumbled.

“Keep it.” Harry pulled the blanket over Louis. “Call me later when you wake up, okay?” Louis nodded. Harry placed a hesitant kiss on Louis’s forehead. He didn’t miss the smile that spread across Louis’s face.

-0-

“Harry, are you okay?” Anne asked as her son walked into the kitchen. “Have you been crying?”

“I’m fine, mum, I promise,” Harry smiled. “Louis and I had a little discussion and it was emotional, but I’m okay.”

“Speaking of Louis,” she smirked, “his mum sent me an adorable picture last night from your phone.”

“What?” Harry questioned. He walked over to her.

“Said the movie was too boring for you two.” She handed her phone to Harry so he could see the picture. He smiled.

“Harry, do you like Louis?” Anne asked seriously.

“Of course I like him, mum,” Harry shrugged. “We’re friends.”

“You know what I mean, Harry.”

Harry sighed. “Yeah, I do. I like him a lot, actually, and it’s crazy because we barely know each other.”

“Have you asked him on a date?”

“Yes.”

“And what’d he say?”

“I’m not sure,” Harry admitted. “He didn’t say no, but he didn’t say yes.”

“I’m lost,” Anne frowned.

“It’s complicated,” Harry said. “He’s got a… rough past. He suggested we get to know each other better and see how things go from there. So it wasn’t a no, but it wasn’t exactly a yes, either.”

“Harry, do you know what you’re getting yourself into?”

“Honestly? Not really. He’s pretty guarded, so I’m still trying to figure him out a little. But I know that he’s funny, caring, and he really cares about his family.” Harry smiled. “Not to mention, he’s also really fit.”

“He seems really nice, Harry.”

“He is.”

“Well then, I hope things work out for you.” She kissed his cheek.

“I do, too, mum. I do, too.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm packing to move right now so things are kind of hectic, but I'm going to update as fast as possible! Promise!  
> Feedback?(:


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi?  
> So so sorry it's been so long! I finally finished the chapter and then I lost internet and couldn't post it. Just my luck. But here's chapter 4 and it definitely should not be that long of a wait for chapter 5!

When Louis woke up, he had a text from Harry.

**_‘Your mum sent my mum a picture last night.’_ **

Attached was the picture of them cuddling by the couch.

Louis bit his lip and saved the photo before responding.

‘ _Totally not my background now or anything…’_

**_‘Mine either…’_ **

_‘You’re lying.’_

**_‘If I’m lying, so are you.’_ **

Louis smiled.

‘ _Alright, you caught me.’_

**_‘I have to admit, it’s a cute picture.’_ **

_‘It really is…’_

Louis stared at the picture for a little while longer. Harry’s body was curled around him. He had his head in the crook of Harry’s neck. They both had small, content smiles on their faces. Harry had his arm wrapped protectively around Louis’s waist.

His phone buzzed his in hand.

**_‘So what are you doing today?’_ **

_‘Well, I’m about to shower and then I have to catch up on school work. I haven’t done any all weekend.’_

**_‘Oh. Okay then.’_ **

_‘I’ll call you in a bit, okay?’_

**_‘Alright :)’_ **

Louis took a deep breath and let out a scream into his pillow. The door was thrown open and Zayn ran in, toothbrush in his mouth.

“What’s wrong?” he asked.

Louis looked up and starting laughing. “You look ridiculous right now,” he snorted.

Zayn looked down at himself. He had a towel loosely wrapped around his waist, toothbrush in his mouth, and toothpaste dripping down his chin.

“Well excuse me,” he said. “I heard you scream, so I didn’t think to look at myself before I ran in here.” Louis didn’t respond. “So, um, why did you scream?”

Louis shrugged. “Frustration?”

“Harry?” Zayn asked. Louis groaned and fell backwards. “Alright, Lou, tell Zayn what happened.”

“This happened,” Louis muttered. He showed Zayn his phone.

“So it’s your background now?”

Louis ignored the comment. “He asked what I was doing today, and when I told him I had to catch up on school work, he just said ‘Oh, okay’ and I could practically _see_ the frown on his face.” Louis threw his arm over his face. “So I told him I’d call him later.”

“And that’s a bad thing because…?”

“I can’t fall for him, Zayn,” Louis said quietly. “I just can’t. Jason just… He fucked everything up for me. I can’t fall for Harry. I don’t want to be hurt again.”

Zayn sat beside Louis and grabbed his hand. “Harry won’t hurt you, Louis. He really likes you.”

“That’s the problem,” Louis said. “I don’t want him falling for me, either, because then it makes me seem like a dick!”

“Then just give the kid a shot, Louis.” Zayn stood up. “He really likes you and I can tell you like him, too. I can see it in your eyes. Don’t let him go and spend the rest of your life wondering what could’ve been.”

Louis’s eyes filled with tears. He quickly blinked them away and went to the shower. There had to be a way to get his mind off Harry.

-0-

“Let’s go out tonight,” Niall said as they were closing the shop. “It’s been a while since I’ve gone to the pub.”

“It’s a Monday night,” Harry pointed out.

“So it won’t be crowded,” the blonde shrugged. “We can invite Liam, Zayn, and Louis and all go out.”

“Louis’s catching up on school work, so he probably won’t go,” Harry said.

Niall pulled out his phone. “Nonsense.” He dialed Louis’s number and put it on speaker.

“Hello?” Louis voice was raspy.

Niall chose to ignore it. “Hey, Lou. So we’re all going to the pub tonight. We’ll pick you up at nine, okay?”

Louis hesitated. “Fuck it,” he mumbled. “Yeah, sounds good. See you then.”

Louis looked through his closet and found the tightest pants he owned. He grabbed the white scoop neck that Zayn said looked amazing on him and threw them on. He didn’t bother with his hair. He just ran his hands through it a few times and ran downstairs just as Niall pulled up. Zayn hopped in the front seat and Louis got in the back by Harry.

“Liam’s meeting us there,” Niall announced. “Said he might leave early.”

Louis looked to his left and smiled shyly at Harry, who returned the gesture.

“I haven’t gotten drunk in a while,” Zayn said randomly.

“I’m not sure about you lads, but I plan on getting absolutely wasted tonight,” Louis commented.

“Any particular reason?” Niall asked.

Louis willed himself not to look over at Harry. “Everything’s been kind of shit lately and I just really want to drink and forget it all.”

“And maybe get laid,” Niall mumbled.

Louis reached up and smacked Niall on the back of the head. “Excuse you! Nobody said anything about me getting laid tonight!”

“First, ow!” Niall laughed. “Second, it’d relieve some of the stress you have built up. Just find a drunk guy, lead him to the bathroom, and voila! Problem solved.”

“Sorry to disappoint, but I don’t plan on any of that happening tonight.”

Louis swore he heard Harry sigh with relief. He shook his head.

“Where are we going, anyways?” Harry asked.

“It’s this place on the outskirts of London,” Louis answered. “It’s a smaller place and it’s never too crowded. Niall’s friends with the owner, so he cuts us discounts on drinks.”

Harry nodded.

-0-

Louis was drunk. Louis was really _really_ drunk and grinding on some man he found on the dance floor. He was pretty sure this man was in his thirties, but he couldn’t bring himself to care much. He had his back pressed against the man’s front, wiggling his hips sinfully. The man started kissing his neck.

“You wanna go back to my place?”

Louis’s eyes opened and immediately locked with Harry’s across the small room. He looked upset, hurt, even. Louis flinched away with the man started nipping at his neck.

“Sorry, I just, I-I gotta go,” Louis stuttered. He ignored the man’s shouts and stumbled his way over to Harry.

“You okay?” Harry asked.

Louis shook his head, tears of frustration filling his eyes. “Will you take me home?”

Harry’s face softened. “You stay right here, okay? I’ll go tell Niall we’re leaving so he doesn’t worry.”

Harry wasn’t half as drunk as Louis, but he still managed to trip over his own feet a little when he guided them out of the pub. Louis giggled a bit, despite the tears in his eyes. Harry got them a cab back to the house and helped Louis up the stairs into his room.

“Why’d you wanna leave early?” Harry asked. He tried not to look at Louis as he changed into his joggers.

“That guy I was dancing with,” Louis admitted. He’d sobered up a little on the drive home. “He asked if I wanted to go back to his place, and the way he said it reminded me so much of Jason.” Louis shuddered. “He just really creeped me out.”

Louis tripped and landed on his bed in a fit of giggles.

“You are so drunk,” Harry laughed. “You’re going to have a major hangover in the morning.”

“I know.” Louis sat up quickly. “I have class tomorrow. Fuck!”

“What time?”

Louis thought about it. “Wait, it’s not until three. Phew.”

Harry stood up to leave, but Louis grabbed his wrist. “Where are you going?”

“Home?” Harry said, though it sounded like a question.

Louis had tears in his eyes again. “Can you… Can you stay here tonight? With me? I have some pajamas you can borrow. I just don’t want to be alone right now.”

Harry stared. How was it possible to change moods that quickly?

“I’ll stay.”

Harry changed into some of Louis’s clothes, though they were a bit short, and climbed in next to Louis. He wasn’t sure what his boundaries were. Louis buried his face into the crook of Harry’s neck.

“Thank you for staying,” he breathed.

Harry kissed Louis’s hair. “Anything for you, Louis,” he whispered.

Harry was woken up a few hours later. Louis was mumbling in his sleep and trying to pull his way out of Harry’s arms.

“Louis?” Harry asked softly.

“Get away from me, Jason,” Louis mumbled. He turned away from Harry and curled in on himself. “Don’t touch me! Stop!”

Harry stared at him with wide eyes. He had no idea what to do. Louis started crying. Harry gently put his arm around Louis’s waist and pulled him back.

“Shh, it’s okay, Louis,” Harry murmured. “It’s just a dream. Jason isn’t here. It’s just us.”

-0-

“Turn it off,” Louis groaned, putting a pillow over his head.

Harry blindly reached over to the nightstand and grabbed his phone. “It’s a text from Niall.”

“What does he want at this time of the morning?” Louis asked. He still had his eyes closed.

“He was telling me to not bother with coming in,” Harry explained. “He got someone to cover me. I forgot I even had work today. How is Niall not dying?”

“He’s Irish. He doesn’t get hangovers. He’s like immune to them or something.”

Harry chuckled and put his arm back around Louis. “Probably because he drinks so much.”

“I should’ve never agreed to go out last night,” Louis pouted. “My head is killing me!”

“Are you gonna throw up? Cause if you are-“

Louis laughed, then winced. “I don’t really get sick with my hangovers. I just get really bad headaches.”

“You could always stay home from class today.”

“Nope.” Louis shook his head a bit. “I skipped Thursday and Friday, so I can’t really miss today or my teachers will kill me. Especially Mrs. Thompson.”

Harry tried to hide the disappointment in his voice. “You should probably get some more sleep before then. I’ll set my alarm for an hour and a half before, okay?”

Louis nodded and closed his eyes.

-0-

“Lou’s falling and he’s falling hard,” Zayn mentioned as soon as he sat down in the coffee shop. Niall stopped cleaning the counter and looked up.

“What?”

“Louis’s falling for Harry,” Zayn repeated. “He’s trying so hard not to, but he really is. I’m pretty sure that’s why he wanted to get wasted last night.”

“If Louis is falling for Harry, and Harry has already fallen for Louis, then what’s the problem?” Niall asked. “Just convince Louis to go out on a date with Harry and-“

“It’s not that easy,” Zayn interrupted. “Louis is so convinced that he’s going to get hurt. He won’t acknowledge his feelings.”

“Harry won’t hurt him.”

“I know.”

“How do we make Louis see that?”

Zayn sighed. “We can’t. He has to figure it out on his own.”

“Where’s he at now?”

“Home,” Zayn said. “I stayed with Liam last night.”

“You two are starting to get serious, huh?” Niall winked. “Knew you two would be perfect together.”

“Shuddup,” Zayn blushed.

Niall looked up in time to see Harry and Louis walk through the door laughing.

“I’m just saying,” Harry said, “it’s my room, so why should I have to wear clothes if I’m not expecting guests?”

“Maybe you should put a lock on your door,” Louis laughed. “Save your mom the embarrassment!”

“My mom?!” Harry said. “What about my embarrassment?” They both laughed again. “She always makes sure to knock now.”

“I understand why.”

The two boys looked up and noticed Niall and Zayn watching them. Zayn had his eyebrow raised. Louis blushed and took a step away from Harry. Harry frowned.

“Hey,” Niall said.

“Hey,” Harry responded. Louis just waved.

“I’ve gotta go,” Louis said suddenly. He turned to leave.

“Class doesn’t start for like forty-five minutes, Lou,” Zayn reminded him.

“Wanna get there early,” Louis muttered. “Got a few questions.”

Louis ran out. Harry sat down at the counter and put his head in his hands.

“You alright there, Harry?” Niall asked. Harry shook his head. “What’s wrong?”

Harry lifted his head up and said, “Louis,” before dropping it back down.

“What about Louis?” Zayn asked a bit defensively.

Harry sat up again. “It’s just… Sometimes, he wants to be really close to me and other times, he wants to be as far away as possible. Like last night at the pub, he left me as soon as we got there. And then he came to me in tears a few hours later asking me to take him home. And we shared a bed last night, but now he’s trying to get away again. I just don’t know what to do.”

“Louis’s complicated, Harry,” Zayn explained. “If you want to win him over, it’ll take a bit. He’s very guarded.”

“I know,” Harry said softly. “He had a nightmare last night. I’m not even sure if he remembered it when he woke up.”

“Unless he wakes up during the nightmare, he usually doesn’t. How’d you know it was a nightmare?”

“He kept trying to pull himself away from me and mumbling ‘go away Jason’ or ‘don’t touch me’ and then he actually started crying.” Harry shook his head. “I didn’t even know you could cry in your sleep.”

“Just keep being there for him,” Zayn said. “We’ll try to talk to him, but I can’t promise anything.”

Harry smiled a little. “Thanks.”

-0-

Louis regretted skipping two days. He was so behind, but luckily he had the rest of the week off from school to relax. He made sure his bag was secured on his shoulder and started walking home.  He walked by an alley way and was pulled in.

“Told you I’d get you,” Jason sneered. His fist collided with Louis’s jaw.

-0-

Harry was lying on his bed when his phone rang. “Hello?”

“Ha-Harry?” Louis hiccupped.

Harry immediately sat up. “Louis? What’s wrong?”

“Can you come g-get me?” Louis asked.

“Yeah, yeah, of course,” Harry said while putting his shoes on. “Where are you?”

“I’m sitting in the library downtown.” Louis sniffed. “Please hurry.”

“I’ll text you when I’m there, okay?”

“Thank you, Harry.”

“You’re welcome.” Harry ran down the stairs. “Mum! I need to borrow the car!”

“Why?” Anne asked. She then noticed how panicked Harry was. “Harry, what’s the matter?”

“I need to get Louis,” Harry explained. “He called me crying and I don’t know what happened but he needs me to pick him up.”

Anne nodded. “Keys are by the door. Be safe.”

Harry kissed his mum on the cheek and ran to the car. He sped to the library and texted Louis when he was down the road. When he pulled up, Louis ran to the car and jumped in the passenger seat.

“Lou-“

“Please just take me home,” Louis begged. “Please.”

Harry couldn’t say no.

Louis looked bad. His nose and lip were both bleeding, his lip was swollen, and so was his left eye. His shirt was wrinkled and even ripped a bit at the collar. Tears were rapidly running down his face as he tried to hold back his sobs. There was mud on his pants and they were ripped at the knees.

Harry led Louis inside and to the bathroom.

“Where’s the first aid kit, Lou?” Harry asked.

Louis hiccupped. “Zayn,” he whimpered.

Harry nodded and walked down the hall to Zayn’s room. He knocked.

“It’s open!” Zayn shouted.

“Zayn, I need your help,” Harry said quickly. Zayn sat up. “It’s Louis. He’s in the bathroom.”

Zayn jumped up and hurried to the bathroom. “Shit.”

Harry followed him in and sat on the tub by Louis. Zayn came back with the first aid kit and began cleaning the cuts on Louis’s knees. Louis grabbed Harry’s hand tightly.

“What the hell happened, Lou?” Zayn asked.

“J-Jason happened,” Louis sniffed. “He just, fuck, he was waiting for me in an alley.”

“And he just beat the shit out of you for no reason?”

Louis scoffed. “Has he ever needed a reason, Zayn?” Louis squeezed Harry’s hand a little harder when Zayn rubbed some sort of cream on the cuts.

“He didn’t do anything else, did he?” Zayn asked cautiously.

“He tried,” Louis admitted. “I managed to get away and ran down the block to the library.”

“Take your shirt off, Lou.”

Harry gasped. Louis’s ribs were littered with small bruises and red marks.

“He managed to get my shirt off and throw me against the wall,” Louis added. “Stupid bastard.”

Zayn started cleaning the blood off Louis’s face. There wasn’t much he could do about the swelling. Louis squeezed Harry’s hand every time something started to sting or hurt.

“I have a short class tonight, Lou,” Zayn said. “Do you want me to skip?”

“I can stay,” Harry suggested. He blushed when two sets of eyes darted towards him. “I mean, if you want me to, Louis.”

Louis nodded. “That’d be great, actually. Thanks.”

Zayn left for class. Louis and Harry made home on the couch with microwave pizzas and bottles of soda. They turned on X Factor, mainly for background noise, though, and pulled a blanket over them.

“Thank you for picking me up,” Louis said suddenly.

“It’s no problem,” Harry assured. “I told you to call me when you need me and I’d be there.”

“But you barely know me,” Louis said, “and you still came.”

“I care about you,” Harry said shyly. “I could tell you needed someone to be there. I’m willing to be there when you need me, Lou.”

Louis’s eyes were shining. “You’re amazing, Curly, did you know that?”

“Did you just call me Curly?” Harry giggled. “That’s not fair because I don’t have a nickname for you!”

“Sucks.” Louis stuck his tongue out. “Figure one out!”

“Lottie said your mum used to call you Boobear,” Harry mentioned. “I could call you that.”

“Please don’t,” Louis groaned. “It’s so embarrassing.”

Harry nodded. “Boobear it is, then.”

Louis threw a pillow at him.

When Zayn came home later that night, with Liam in tow, he was a little shocked by what he saw.

“Well then,” Zayn muttered.

Liam peeked around him and his eyes widened. “Is that Harry? With _Louis?”_

Louis had his head resting on Harry’s chest, their legs tangled together. Harry had a protective arm wrapped around Louis’s waist and the other hand was wrapped around Louis’s.

“I told you, Harry is making our boy act different,” Zayn said, “but he still won’t go out with Harry.”

“Harry’s probably really confused,” Liam frowned.

“Why?”

“Cause if Louis’s is acting like this, and letting him in when he’s hurt, and cuddling with him, Harry’s going to think Louis likes him,” Liam explained.

“Louis does like him. It’s obvious, but he just won’t admit it.”

“And that’s where Harry gets himself hurt.” Liam shook his head. “I know you’re protective of Louis, but I’m protective of Harry, too. He’s a few years younger than us and he’s always been really vulnerable. He always does whatever he needs to in order for other people to be happy, but he doesn’t exactly do what he needs for _him_ to be happy.”

“Louis doesn’t mean to be like this, Li,” Zayn said softly. “You should’ve seen him the day he came to visit me before we moved in together. It was awful. He was covered in cuts and bruises. Jason really messed him up and I don’t know how long it’ll take to fix him.”

“I think Harry’s the right guy to do it, though.”

-0-

Louis woke up to a sticky note on his forehead.

_“Sister made a surprise visit and had to go to dinner with her and my mum. Sorry! I’ll text you later, okay? :) –Harry xx”_

Louis bit back a smile and stood up to stretch.

“About time, sleepyhead,” Zayn commented from the kitchen. He smiled at Louis. “It’s like seven at night.”

“All I ever do is sleep,” Louis yawned. “It’s that damn medicine.”

“I’d rather have a happy Louis that sleeps most of the day than a sad Louis that is awake all day,” Zayn said.

Louis sat down at the table beside Zayn. “My face hurts.”

“I figured as much.” Louis flipped him off. “What do you wanna do tonight, Lou?”

Louis shrugged. “I don’t really wanna go out, but I don’t really wanna stay in.”

Zayn laughed. “That doesn’t really work.”

Louis felt his phone vibrate and pulled it out of his pocket. It was a text from Harry.

**_‘Hey :)’_ **

_‘Hey :P You could’ve woken me up!’_

“Let me guess- Harry?”

Louis looked up and blushed. Zayn was smirking.

“Maybe,” Louis mumbled.  He looked down when his phone went off again.

**_‘You looked to peaceful! I wasn’t going to do that.’_ **

_‘Oh… Um, Zayn is staring at me and I should probably put my phone away before he breaks it. Sorry!’_

Louis put his phone back in his pocket and ignored it when it vibrated.

Zayn rolled his eyes and ruffled Louis’s hair. “Let’s go watch a movie, you git.”

Louis gasped. “Rude!”

Zayn laughed and walked to the living room. Louis walked in a few minutes later with a bowl of popcorn. He settled beside Zayn and smiled.

-0-

“Harry, who are you texting?” Gemma asked.

“What? No one,” Harry said quickly.

“You look positively smitten,” Gemma smirked. “Tell me who it is!”

“His name’s Louis,” Harry admitted. “He’s this guy I met at the shop. He’s friends with Niall and Liam, too.”

“Awe, my baby brother has a crush!” she cooed. She pulled him close and kissed his cheek obnoxiously.

Harry wiped his cheek. “I’m eighteen, not eight, Gems.”

“Do I get to meet him?” she asked excitedly. “If I just follow you to work and sit up there all day, do you think he’ll be there?”

Harry shrugged. “Considering he gets coffee every single day, I would go ahead and assume yes.”

Gemma clapped her hands together and squealed. “I do expect a proper introduction.” Harry hesitated a bit. “What is it, H?”

“It’s just,” Harry paused. “He’s complicated, yeah? He knows that I like him. Well, I’m pretty sure he knows. But he’s. He’s guarded. He doesn’t really let people in that often, and he’s slowly starting to let me in. Just don’t mention anything about crushes or relationships or love or anything like that, okay? I don’t want to freak him out.”

“Okay,” Gemma said softly.

“Oh, and one more thing,” Harry added. “He, um, he’s kind of beat up right now, so don’t ask him about it.”

“Beat up?”

Harry nodded. “Like, busted lip, black eye, bruises... It’s pretty bad.”

Gemma gasped. “What the hell happened to him?”

“It was his ex-boyfriend.” Harry looked down. “Just don’t mention it at all, okay? Just act like he doesn’t have tons of bruises.”

“I will.” She wrapped her arms around her brother. “I hope things work out for you, H.”

Harry smiled. “Thanks, Gem.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thoughts?


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It didn't take as long this time :)  
> Also, I wanted to add a trigger warning for self-harm. It's not bad, I promise. And also, there's a point when there's a very brief mention of domestic abuse.

Louis stared down at his feet and played with his thumbs. Zayn was staring at him with a disappointed look. There was a blood stained blade in the sink and a towel pressed to Louis’s stomach.

“Louis,” Zayn said sternly. “I thought this had stopped. Where did you even get a blade? I took them from you. What the hell were you thinking, Louis? You-“

“I’m sorry!” Louis exclaimed. “I’m sorry, okay? I wasn’t thinking. I was just upset about what happened with Jason yesterday and I wanted to stop the pain somehow. I fucked up, okay? Is that what you wanted to hear?”

Zayn’s face softened. “Lou, I just want you to get better.” He sat on the side of the bathtub. “You can’t do this anymore. Be honest with me. When was the last time you did this? Cause some of those cuts aren’t fresh.”

Louis bit his lip. “It was a few weeks ago,” he finally said. “When I ran into Jason at the store and he cornered me in the bathroom. And he, um, he…”

“Louis, did he rape you?”

“Not exactly,” Louis shrugged. “He just forced me to my knees and well. Yeah.”

“Why didn’t you tell me?” Zayn asked.

“Because I knew you’d flip and try to convince me to turn him in. I’m fine, okay? I’m fine.”

“Yeah, well the cuts and black eye say differently,” Zayn spat. Louis flinched. “Look, Lou-“

“Just leave, Zayn.”

“You are _not_ staying here alone.”

Louis scoffed. “So I’m tagging along to your classes with you?”

“Either that or you stay at the coffee shop with Niall.”

The two boys stared at each other.

“Fine,” Louis gritted out. “I’ll go to the shop.”

Louis scowled the entire drive. Zayn stayed out front and made sure Louis made it into the shop completely. He texted Niall to make sure Louis didn’t leave.

“Hey Curly,” Louis said cheerily. “Where’s Niall?”

“Hey,” Harry smiled. “He had to go run some errands. He’ll be back in a bit. You here for the day?”

“Yeah,” Louis nodded. “Zayn doesn’t want me home alone so I’m here till his class is over.”

Harry continued cleaning tables and fixing chairs. He glanced up at Louis and smiled. A young woman, who looked a lot like Harry, walked out from the bathroom.

“How much longer, H?” she whined. She didn’t seem to notice Louis and sat down at the counter.

“Gem, stop your whining,” Harry laughed. “You’re the one who wanted to sit up here all day. So unless you wanna walk home, you’re here till I get off.”

Gemma dropped her head down onto the counter with a thud. Louis chuckled. Gemma’s head snapped up and looked at Louis.

“I’m stuck here, too,” Louis said. “I’m Louis.”

Gemma’s eyes lit up. “I’m Gemma,” she smiled, “Harry’s sister.”

“What made you decide to go work with Harry?” he asked.

Gemma shrugged. “Just felt like spending some time with him.”

Harry walked up to the counter then. He gave his sister a small smile and Louis a bigger one.

“Why’re you here?” Gemma asked.

“Zayn doesn’t want me home alone,” Louis said.

“Why not?”

“Do you see my face?”

Gemma shrugged. “What’s that have to do with it?”

Louis laughed a little. “My um… My ex kind of attacked me yesterday. He knows where I live and Zayn doesn’t want to risk him showing up.”

“Why don’t you turn him in?” Gemma frowned.

“Because he’ll get out of it somehow. I’ve just given up on trying, honestly.”

Niall walked in then. He went straight to Louis, grabbed his arm, and dragged him back into the kitchen.

“Niall, what the hell?”

“Why didn’t you tell anybody about what happened at the store?” Niall hissed. “We could’ve gotten that bastard locked up!”

“Just drop it,” Louis whispered harshly. “It’s in the past.”

“We could’ve gotten the security cameras showing him dragging you to the bathroom!” Niall argued. “And that may be in the past, but this isn’t!” He started to lift up Louis’s shirt.

Louis stepped backwards. “Don’t. I messed up. I know. I’m just a fuck up-“

“You’re not a fuck up, Louis.”

“Well you and Zayn sure as hell aren’t doing a good job at making me believe that!” Louis angrily wiped his eyes. “I already feel like shit and you aren’t helping. I don’t want to be here.”

“You can’t stay home-“

Louis scoffed. “I didn’t mean here at the shop, Niall.”

“Lou,” Niall said softly. “Don’t talk like that, okay? We care about you. We just want you to get better.”

“Then stop treating me like a baby!” Louis almost yelled. He stormed out of the kitchen and back to his seat by the counter.

“Lou, you okay?” Harry asked. He stood in front of Louis.

“I’m fine, I’m fine,” Louis dismissed. He wiped some of the tears off his face.

“I heard you yelling,” Harry frowned. “What’s wrong?”

Louis shook his head, more tears falling down his face. “It’s nothing, Harry.”

Hesitantly, Harry reached forward and put his arms around Louis. Louis buried his head in Harry’s neck and tried to calm his breathing. He wrapped his arms around Harry’s waist.

“Shh,” Harry whispered. “It’s okay, Lou.”

Louis nodded and pulled back a little. “Thanks, Harry.”

“No problem, Boobear,” Harry smirked.

Louis groaned and pushed Harry away playfully. He pouted. “I thought I said no to that name.”

“I didn’t choose my nickname, so you don’t get to pick yours.” He stuck his tongue out.

“You’re a menace,” Louis smiled.

Harry poked his cheek. “Yay, you smiled!”

Louis tried to stop smiling, but he couldn’t.

That seemed to happen around Harry. Louis could rarely keep the smile off his face. Harry was just so happy, so cheery, and it rubbed off on Louis more often than not. Louis’s favorite was when the grin took over Harry’s entire face.

Louis jumped when someone snapped in his face.

“You okay, Lou?” Harry asked. “You zoned out for a bit.”

“It’s the medicine,” Louis said absently.

“Medicine?”

Louis’s eyes widened a bit and he looked up. “Nothing. Sorry. I’m still half asleep. Got up at like five this morning.”

“Why’d you get up so early if you didn’t have class?” Harry said.

“Couldn’t sleep,” Louis said honestly. “I had a lot on my mind, I guess.”

Harry smiled softly. “Lou, I told you that you can call me if you need to clear your mind. I would’ve answered.”

“It’s true,” Gemma said. Louis turned to her. “This kid could sleep through world war three, but he’ll wake up in two seconds if his phone goes off.”

Louis chuckled. “Thanks, but I wasn’t going to wake you up that early to burden you with my problems.”

“Louis, you’re not a burden.”

Louis and Gemma relocated to a small table in the corner of the shop when the morning rush started. They both sipped their drinks quietly until Gemma spoke up.

“Y’know,” she said, “Harry really cares about you.”

Louis blushed. “I know,” he said. “He tells me almost every day. It’s kind of overwhelming.”

“He can be sometimes,” she agreed. “But I could tell just by the way he talked about you-“

“He talked about me?” he asked.

Gemma smiled. “He told me a little bit about you yesterday. I asked who he was texting.”

Louis bit back a smile and looked down. “He tell you how much of a nutcase I am?”

“What makes you think you’re a nutcase?”

“It’d be easier to tell you why I’m not,” Louis scoffed. Gemma raised an eyebrow. Louis sighed. “I’ve had some… interesting experiences when it comes to relationships. I moved in with my ex when I was like eighteen and everything just kind of went downhill from there. He, um, he abused me a lot.” He shrugged. “So now I have nightmares a lot, I’m jumpy, and I’m on like six different anxiety and anti-depression pills.”

Gemma frowned. “That’s absolutely awful!” She grabbed his hand. “Does Harry know?”

“He knows about my ex, but not the pills.” Louis glanced over at Harry. “There’s also some other stuff he doesn’t know about, but I’m just not ready to tell him everything yet.”

“And I’m sure he understands that.”

“He does,” Louis smiled. “He does more than anybody I’ve ever met. I don’t make friends very well because I don’t usually open up. He doesn’t even care. He just accepts the fact that he doesn’t know everything about me.”

Gemma smiled back. “Harry’s like that. He tries to see the good in everybody, but sometimes that doesn’t turn out so well for him.”

“What do you mean?”

“He tries to make other people happy, even if it doesn’t make him happy,” Gemma explained. “There was this guy back in Holmes Chapel. Harry was absolutely enamored by him. Did anything this guy asked. Harry was practically this guy’s slave. Drove him places, did his homework, kept him out of trouble in school. Harry finally got the courage to ask him out on a date, and the guy laughed in his face. Gathered a bit of a crowd in the hall and called Harry all these awful words. I know Harry is still pretty torn up over it, but he acts like it never happened.”

“How could someone do that to someone like him?” Louis frowned. “He’s so sweet. He’s pretty strong, too. I wish I could just act like my last relationship never happened.”

“Hard to do that when you still have reminders.” She gestured to his face.

“Yeah, I guess so.” Louis sighed. “I wish this would just all stop. I’m with him, he abuses me. I leave him, he still abuses me. I just can’t win with this.”

“You could turn him in,” she offered.

Louis shook his head. “That’s not an option. Believe me, it’s just not.”

“It could be.”

Louis didn’t respond. He just looked down. Things were quiet until Harry sat down next to Louis.

“I hate the morning rush,” Harry whined. “It’s full of cranky Uni students.”

“I happen to be one of those cranky Uni students, thank you.” Louis flicked Harry’s ear. “Shouldn’t you be working?”

“I’m on break,” Harry replied. He picked a piece off his bagel and put it in his mouth. He broke off another piece and offered it to Louis. Louis smiled and took it. “What have you two been talking about?”

“Secrets,” Gemma answered. “Sorry, H. Can’t tell you.”

Harry pouted and looked at Louis. “Louis?”

“Hey, no, keep that puppy dog face away from me,” Louis said. “I’m not telling either.”

“You two are mean to me.”

“Louis should come over for dinner tonight,” Gemma suggested.

Louis and Harry both snapped their heads up at that. Louis’s eyes widened dramatically.

“Wh-what?” he stuttered.

“H said he went over to yours for dinner while your sisters were in town, so why don’t you come over while I’m in town?” she explained. “Look, you don’t have to if you don’t want to.”

Harry looked hopeful. “I’m sure mum wouldn’t mind,” he said.

“Um, sure,” Louis shrugged. “Just… after you get off, talk to your mum first and then text me to confirm. I don’t want to intrude-“

“Definitely not intruding,” Gemma laughed. “I’m pretty sure my mum wants to meet you just as bad as I did.”

Harry blushed and kicked Gemma under the table. “Thanks, Gem.” He stood up. “I’ve gotta get back to work, but I get off in a few hours. How long are you here?”

Louis looked at his phone. “Zayn’s classes should be done in about an hour or so. He’s picking me up on his way home.”

Harry smiled. “Alright.”

-0-

“You wanna go out for dinner tonight?” Zayn asked when they arrived back at the house.

“Um, actually, I’m um, going to Harry’s for dinner,” Louis stammered. “They invited me.”

“They?”

“Harry and his sister, Gemma,” Louis explained. “She was at the shop with Harry today. Stayed with her most of the day so Niall wouldn’t hassle me.”

Zayn rubbed the back of his neck. “Sorry about that,” he said. “I shouldn’t have told him about Jason or the cuts, but I was just upset and wasn’t thinking.”

“It’s fine,” Louis said. “I should’ve told you when it happened. And I don’t really have an excuse for the cutting.” He shrugged. “That was just me being weak.”

“It’s not being weak,” Zayn said firmly. “That’s not something that you’re just going to stop doing, Louis. It takes time and I’m here to help you through it. Just… Don’t try to hide it from me, yeah? I’ll probably freak at first, but I’m not going to make you go through this alone.”

“What if I want to be alone?” Louis asked quietly.

“Then you’re fucked,” Zayn smiled. “I’m not leaving you, Lou.”

Louis threw himself into Zayn’s arms. “Thank you, Zayn. For everything.”

Zayn kissed Louis’s temple. “No problem, Lou. Now go get ready for Harry!”

Louis rolled his eyes, but smiled. His phone went off while he was walking up the stairs.

**_‘Mum said it was fine :)’_ **

_‘Okay :) What time should I be there?’_

**_‘I’ll pick you up at six, okay?’_ **

_‘Harry, I can drive myself.’_

**_‘Yeah, but you don’t have to.’_ **

_‘:) okay. I’ll be ready then.’_

**_‘Alright. Can’t wait :)’_ **

Louis chose not to respond to that.

Instead, he jumped in the shower. He focused on washing his hair and tried to ignore the stinging cuts on his stomach.

-0-

Louis tugged on his shirt and bit his lip.

“What’s wrong, Lou?” Harry asked when the pulled into his driveway.

“Nothing,” Louis answered. “Just a little nervous.”

“About what?”

Louis looked down. “What if she doesn’t like me?”

“She’ll love you,” Harry said softly. “I promise she will. Believe me, if you’ve already gotten Gemma’s approval, you’ll definitely win my mum over.”

Louis smiled. “You sure?”

Harry grabbed Louis’s hand and gave it a small squeeze. “I’m positive. You ready?”

Louis nodded. They were greeted with a crash as soon as they opened the door.

“Gemma!”

“Sorry mum!”

Gemma came around the corner and smiled sheepishly. “Dropped a bowl,” she said pointing at the kitchen. “Luckily there was nothing in it. I’ve always been kind of shit in the kitchen.”

“Me too,” Louis chuckled.

Gemma took a step towards Louis with her arms open. Louis smiled and stepped closer, wrapping her in a hug. “Glad you could come, Louis. Dinner’s just about ready.”

Louis tensed a bit. Harry gave Gemma a look and she took a step back. Louis pulled on his shirt again.

“Lou, you look fine,” Harry whispered. He pulled Louis’s hand away from his shirt. “Stop worrying.”

“Sorry,” Louis whispered back.

Harry squeezed Louis’s hand and led him into the kitchen. “Hi, mum.”

“Hi, darling,” Anne said brightly. She wiped her hands and walked over to them. “You must be Louis.”

Louis nodded. “Yeah,” he said quietly. He cleared his throat. “Hi, Mrs. Styles.”

“My last name is actually Cox, but call me Anne, sweetie,” she smiled. She put her hand on his shoulder. “It’s so nice to meet you, Louis. I’m glad you could make it tonight.”

“Me too.”

-0-

“I told you she would love you,” Harry said when he sat on his bed. He pulled Louis down next to him.

Louis smiled shyly. “Yeah, I guess it was kind of stupid to be nervous, wasn’t it?”

“Hey, no it wasn’t stupid,” Harry said quickly. “It’s fine to be nervous about things like that.”

Louis moved away from Harry a bit and bit his lip. “I just wish I wasn’t so… I don’t know, weird about things like this.”

“What do you mean?”

“Meeting new people. I just worry that they won’t like me.”

“You’re very likeable.” Harry smiled. “I find it hard to believe that people don’t like you.”

“Harry, look at my fucking face. It’s kind of obvious that someone doesn’t like me,” Louis said harshly. Harry flinched and Louis sighed. “Sorry, sorry. I didn’t mean for that to be so rude. It’s just, half of my face is bruised.” He paused. “Tell you mum I said thanks for not bringing it up at dinner.”

Harry nodded. “I will. You wanna stay the night?”

Louis hesitated. “I probably shouldn’t. I mean, I don’t have to go home right now, but it’d be best if I did later.”

Harry put in a movie. Louis didn’t pay attention to what movie it was. His mind was wandering. The only thing he could focus on was Harry. Harry’s smile, Harry’s laugh, Harry’s voice. His mind was nothing but _harryharryharry_ and that terrified him. It had been less than two weeks and Louis was already wrapped up in Harry. He didn’t want to get attached, but he was.

“Lou? Louis.”

Louis blinked rapidly and looked up at Harry. “Yeah?”

“You zoned out a bit,” Harry smiled crookedly. “You okay?”

Louis didn’t know how to answer. Was he okay? He shrugged. “Yeah, yeah. I’m fine.”

Harry frowned. “You sure?”

“I think I should get home,” Louis suggested.

“Alright. Let’s go.”

-0-

When they arrived at Louis’s house, Harry opened Louis’s door for him and leaned against the car.

“I had fun tonight,” Harry said.

“Me too,” Louis smiled. “Thanks for inviting me over.”

“Anytime.”

Harry bit his lip and looked at Louis. His eyelids fluttered closed and he started to lean in towards Louis. Louis’s heart started pounding. His eyes were wide and frantic. He went to take a step backwards, but tripped over the curb and landed on the sidewalk with a thud. He stood up quickly just as Harry opened his eyes.

“Louis-“

Louis shook his head and started walking backwards. “I’m sorry-I just- I have to go,” he stuttered. He turned and ran for the door, slamming it shut behind him.

Harry stared at the door. He sent Louis a simple **_‘I’m sorry’_** and leaned back against his car with a groan.

He just had to go and fuck things up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had to add some drama!  
> Thoughts?


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it took so long!
> 
> There's a small part where Louis and Lottie are talking about Louis's cutting, but it's not big at all.. Just wanted to say that in case though. And mentions of a panic attack, so there's that.
> 
> Also, a new character is introduced at the end...

As soon as the door slammed shut behind Louis, he leaned against it and slid down to the ground. He put his head in his hands. His phone went off.

**_‘I’m sorry’_ **

He threw it.

He saw Zayn run into the hallway and lean down in front of him. He could hear Zayn’s voice, but couldn’t understand him.

“Breathe, Lou, breathe,” Zayn instructed. “Take a deep breath.” Louis did. “Let it out.”

Louis repeated that for a few minutes before he could think properly.

“There you go,” Zayn murmured. “What was that all about?”

Louis didn’t speak. His eyes widened a bit when Zayn picked up his phone.

“What is Harry sorry about?” Zayn asked.  “What the hell did he do? I swear, if he hurt you, Lou-“

“He didn’t hurt me, okay?” Lou said quickly. “He didn’t hurt me.”

“Then what the hell happened, Lou?” Zayn pulled Louis up and walked him to the couch. “I haven’t seen you panic like that in a while.”

“It was nothing,” Louis dismissed. “I overreacted.”

Zayn grabbed Louis’s face. “What. Happened.”

Louis sighed. “He tried to kiss me. I panicked a little and tripped over the curb when I tried to back away. It’s not a big deal.”

“It _is_ a big deal, Louis. It’s a big deal because it upset you, okay? He shouldn’t have done that to you. From what I know, you told him a little about Jason. He shouldn’t have tried to kiss you without your permission. You had every right to get upset over that.”

“But I don’t want to lose him as a friend,” Louis whispered. “He really cares about me, and not many people do. It’s... It feels nice.”

“Just tell him you need a little space. I’m sure he’ll understand.”

“Can you do it for me? I just. I’m still trying to calm down.”

“Do you want to take one of your pills to help you sleep?”

Louis nodded.

Zayn grabbed Louis’s phone to text Harry while he went to grab Louis’s medicine.

_‘Hi Harry. It’s Zayn. Lou’s a little shaken right now and he asked me to text you. He needs a little space for a bit, okay?’_

**_‘God, I fucked up, didn’t I? He can take all the time he needs. Just. Can you let him know how sorry I am? I’m such an idiot.’_ **

_‘Harry, calm down. You’re not an idiot and you didn’t fuck up. Lou even told me that he doesn’t want to lose you, he just needs time to sort his head out. He’ll call or something when he’s ready.’_

**_‘Okay. Thanks, Zayn.’_ **

_‘No problem.’_

“What’d he say?” Louis asked after he swallowed his pill.

“He said to take all the time you need and he’s really sorry,” Zayn said. “He also called himself an idiot.”

Louis frowned. “He’s not an idiot.”

“I made sure to tell him that,” Zayn said. “Now, let’s get you changed and ready for bed, alright? Wanna sleep in my room or yours?”

“Yours.”

-0-

“You did _what?”_ Gemma almost yelled. “Harry! Why on earth would you do that?”

“I don’t know!” Harry groaned. “I wasn’t thinking, okay? I messed up. I feel awful. Zayn said that Louis needs space to sort his head out. I messed everything up.”

“Harry-“

“Look, as much as I would love to sit here and be lectured, I have to work,” Harry said. “I’ll be back later.”

Harry took the long way to work, walking by Louis’s house on the way. There were no lights on and both cars were still in the driveway. Harry sighed.

The shop was just opening when Harry arrived. He took people’s orders out of habit, almost like he was in a trance. He kept glancing up at the door.

“Lou won’t be in today,” Niall said.

Harry looked down and blushed. “How do you know?”

“Zayn called me this morning,” he explained. “He’s staying home with Louis today. Apparently, Lou had a small panic attack last night. He’s usually out of it for a day or so after.”

Harry felt his stomach drop. Panic attack? He caused Louis to have a _panic attack?_

“This is all my fault,” Harry whispered. He felt the tears burning at his eyes.

“How is this your fault?” the blonde asked.

“He came over for dinner last night and I drove him home,” Harry said. “And then… Then I tried to kiss him.”

Niall’s eyes widened. “You _what?!_ Harry, I told you not to go after him like that! What the fuck were you thinking?”

“I wasn’t thinking!” Harry repeated his words from earlier that morning. “I couldn’t help it! He just looked so beautiful and I just. Ugh, I really like him.”

“Believe it or not, you won’t be the only one getting hurt in this, Harry,” Niall said. “Whether or not you mean to, you’re going to hurt Louis. He’s fragile. He’s broken. He’s not used to people caring about him. He’s not going to react well when things like this happen. Did you even ask him if you could kiss him?”

Harry shook his head. “I just kind of leaned in. He took a step back and tripped over the curb, though.”

“Harry-“

“God, I messed up, okay?” Harry threw the rag he was holding. “I messed up! I don’t need every person I know telling me this!”

Harry couldn’t stop the tears that fell. He wiped at his face, but it was useless. He hiccupped a few times and sat down.

“Maybe you should just take the day off,” Niall said. “If we get too busy, I’ll call someone else in.”

“Niall, I’m fine-“

Niall shook his head. “Just go home. I’ll see you tomorrow morning.”

Harry sighed and went to the back to get his bag. He slowly started his walk home. There was nothing to do at home. He still didn’t have many friends in the town. He decided to call Liam when he got home. Maybe Liam wouldn’t be mad at him.

“Hey, Harry.”

Harry looked up, startled, to find Zayn smiling at him. “Hi, Zayn.”

“You off already? Didn’t the shop just open up a few hours ago?” Zayn asked. He walked a little closer. “Mate, have you been crying?”

Harry shrugged. “I, um, I told Niall about what happened and he kind of flipped. I kinda started crying because I know that I fucked up, I _know_ that, and I didn’t want to hear everybody else tell me, so Niall suggested I just go home for the day.”

“You didn’t fuck up, Harry, I’ve already told you that,” Zayn said softly. “Louis’s just… He’s complicated, yeah? He’s not mad at you. Promise. He’s just not used to someone caring about him the way you do.”

The front door creaked open. Harry looked up just as Louis’s head peaked out. When Louis saw Harry, he quickly shut the door.

“You sure he doesn’t hate me?”

Zayn nodded. “Absolutely positive. I’m pretty sure it’s quite the opposite, actually.”

“What do you mean?” Harry asked.

“I mean,” Zayn paused, “Louis definitely cares about you and what you think, so don’t give up. I know Niall is probably telling you that you should, but don’t. You and Louis won’t be the only ones to win if things go well. It’ll be good for everybody to see Louis happy again.”

Harry smiled. “Thanks, Zayn.”

“I should probably get back inside.”

Harry continued his walk home.

-0-

The next week and a half passed quickly. Louis finished his Uni exams, and he didn’t sign up for any more classes.

“I need a break,” he shrugged when Zayn asked him.

Louis hadn’t said anything about Harry and Zayn wasn’t about to bring that up.

Zayn was shocked out of his trance when Louis plopped down on the couch beside him.

“I’m going to Doncaster,” he announced.

“Wait, what?” Zayn asked. “Why’re you going home?”

“I just feel like I need to get away,” Louis said quietly. “I mean, I need to get over myself. I can’t even go to the damn coffee shop anymore. I thought that maybe going to see mum and the girls would help.”

“How long will you be gone?”

Louis shrugged. “A week. Maybe two.”

-0-

“Hey, Lou! Haven’t seen you ‘round in a while.”

Harry cursed and tripped, causing him to drop the box he was holding. It landed with a loud thud.

“You okay, Harry?” Niall called out.

“I’m fine!” Harry answered. He took a deep breath.

He wasn’t fine. It had been almost two weeks since he tried to kiss Louis. Almost two weeks since Louis looked at him, terrified, and ran into the safety of his house. Almost two weeks since he’s heard Louis’s voice. He had been beating himself up since that night, constantly telling himself how stupid he was.

He quickly picked up the box and walked out from the back of the shop. He glanced up at Louis, who was still talking to Niall.

“Yeah, going home to Doncaster for a bit,” Louis said. “Probably a week or two. I’m not sure. Just feel like I need to get away for a bit, y’know?”

“Yeah, I understand,” Niall nodded. “Tell Stan I said hi, will ya?”

Louis smiled a little. “I’ll make sure to, Ni.”

“You heading up there now?”

Louis nodded. “Hopefully mum won’t mind. Didn’t exactly ask her.” He shrugged. “Anyways, thanks for the tea, Niall. I’ll see you when I get back.”

“Bye, Louis.”

Louis turned to walk away, but paused. He looked up. “Bye, Harry.”

Harry bit back a smile. “Bye, Lou.”

He didn’t miss the small smile that spread across Louis’s face.

The three hour drive from London to Doncaster was a boring one. He had texted Stan to let him know, and was then invited to Stan’s house for drinks that night.

When he finally pulled up to his old house, it was around three in the afternoon. He looked at himself in the mirror. The bruises from Jason were gone, so he decided to keep that story to himself. He pulled his suitcase out of the backseat and rolled it up the sidewalk. He knocked on the door and waited. His mum answered with a surprised look on her face.

“Surprise,” he said weakly.

He was immediately pulled into a hug.

“Lou!” Jay said happily. “What’re you doing here? I wasn’t expecting you to visit this soon.”

“I needed to get out of London for a bit,” he said. “I probably should’ve called first, but I just really needed to clear my head.”

Jay tutted. “You’re always welcome here, boo. Come on, go upstairs and meet me in my room. I’m going to make tea and then we’re talking.”

“There’s nothing to talk about,” Louis lied.

“Lou,” Jay said with a stern look. “You can’t fool me.”

Louis sighed. He walked upstairs, put his suitcase in the guest bedroom, and made his way to his mum’s bed. He curled up under the blankets and thought about what he was going to say to his mum.

“Alright,” Jay said when she walked in the room. She handed one mug to Louis and set the other one on the nightstand while she crawled in bed beside Louis. “Tell your mum what’s going on.”

“I don’t know,” Louis shrugged.

“It’s Harry, isn’t it?” Louis just stared. “Hey, a mother can sense things. What happened?”

“Well, he, uh, he tried to kiss me?” Louis looked up for a reaction. Jay pressed her lips together. “I went to his house for dinner and when he took me home after, he tried to kiss me.”

“I see,” Jay murmured. “And what did you do?”

“I did what I do best. I panicked and ran.” Jay raised her eyebrow. “When he leaned in to kiss me, I tried to walk backwards, but I tripped over the curb and fell. I told him I had to go, ran inside, and I haven’t talked to him since.” Louis looked at his hands. “Well, I said bye to him today, but that’s the only time I’ve seen or talked to him in almost two weeks. I feel like things are going to be weird between us now.”

“Have you thought about talking to him about it?” Jay asked.

“Zayn told him that I’m not mad at him, so hopefully he believes that,” Louis mentioned. “Zayn also told him that I just needed some space. That was the first panic attack I’ve had in a while, so it shocked me and Zayn both.”

“I think you and Harry need to sit down and talk things out. He makes you happy, so you don’t need to let this get in the way of your friendship. I haven’t seen you that happy in a while, babe. Don’t let this one go.” Jay kissed Louis’s temple. “Now I have to go get the twins from daycare. Fizzy’s at a friend’s for a few days. Lottie’s in her room. I’ll be back in about half an hour.”

Louis’s walked down the hall and knocked on Lottie’s door.

“It’s open!” Louis opened the door and peeked inside. Lottie looked up. “Louis!”

Louis chuckled and sat by Lottie on her bed. “Hey, Lot.”

“What’re you doing here?” she asked. She scooted closer to him.

“What, a guy can’t come visit his own sister?” he joked.

“What happened with Harry?”

Louis’s jaw dropped. “Why does everybody just assume something happened with Harry?”

“I can just tell.” Lottie was quiet for a bit before she looked up. “Lou, are you getting better?”

Louis turned to look at her. “What do you mean, Lot?”

“You know what I mean,” she said. She grabbed his arms and lightly ran her fingers over the scars there. “I know more about this than you think, Lou.”

“How much do you know, exactly?” he asked.

“I know that Jason was an absolute dick to you. I know he used to beat you. I know you’re depressed.” She pressed a little harder on the scars. “And I know that when you were in the hospital last year, it wasn’t because you slipped in the bathroom. I know you attempted, Lou, and it scares me that I almost lost you without getting to say goodbye. I just- I don’t know what I’d do without you.”

Louis’s eyes were filled with tears. “Lottie…” He swallowed. “How do you know all this?”

“I hear you and mum talking sometimes,” she sniffed and wiped away some tears. “And when we were staying at your place, you left your medicine on the counter. I put it in the cabinet before Fiz saw it, though. Also, last year, you weren’t very good at hiding your blades. You cut over here, once. I found the bloody towel in the bin when I was cleaning. Why, Lou? Why’d you do that here of all places? I can’t-“ she broke off crying.

“Oh, Lottie.” He pulled her in for a hug as she sobbed into his shoulder.

“I just want you to get better, Lou.”

“I’m trying,” he promised. “I’m really trying, sweetheart. I’ll get better. I promise.”

“I can’t lose you.”

“You’re not going to.” Louis leaned back a little and wiped the remaining tears off Lottie’s face. “Look, I’ve already promised Stan I’d go to his tonight, but I’m promising you that tomorrow night, we’ll have a movie night. Any movie you wanna watch.”

“Thanks, Louis,” Lottie smiled.

-0-

“You definitely need to get drunk tonight,” Stan concluded after Louis told the story. “My cousin’s coming over, so we can all get wasted together!”

“Which cousin?” Louis asked, bringing the beer bottle to his lips.

“Ashton, the one from Australia,” Stan said. “He just moved to London. He moved in this morning, and he’s on his way here from the train station. Forgot he was coming over, to be honest, but I figured it’d be okay. It’d be good for you two to get to know each other.”

“He’ll need a friend in London,” Louis agreed. “I’ll show him around. We’ll be friends. Best friends. Friends forever. We’ll have sleepovers and everything.”

Stan laughed. “How many drinks have you had?”

“Like four? Five? I don’t know.” Louis shrugged.

“This was probably a bad idea because you’re not supposed to drink with your medicine,” Stan said suddenly. Louis shrugged again. “Ah, well, fuck it.”

The doorbell rang.

Stan came back, arm around Ashton’s shoulders, laughing. Ashton was. Well.

Ashton was stunning. Louis fought not to gape at him.

“Louis, this is Ashton,” Stan said, snapping Louis out of his trance. “Ash, this is my friend Louis. He lives in London, too, so I thought it’d be good for you two to hang out.”

“Hey,” Ashton smiled.

“Hi,” Louis said.

Four hours and many drinks later, Louis was laying on the living room floor, laughing at absolutely nothing.

Stan threw a pillow at him. “Lou, shut up!”

“But it’s funny!” he giggled.

“What’s funny?” Ashton asked.

“It’s just that,” Louis paused and tried to control his laughter, “the whole reason I came here to visit was because I panicked when Harry tried to kiss me. Cause I don’t do good with feelings or kissing or anything.” He giggled again and looked at Ashton. “And now I wanna kiss you. Like, I _really_ wanna kiss you.”

Ashton’s smile widened. “Then do it.”

Louis crawled over to Ashton with a devilish grin on his face. He put his thighs on both sides of Ashton’s, straddling him. He leaned in.

“Do it,” Ashton repeated quietly.

Louis pressed his lips against Ashton’s, immediately licking and biting at his bottom lip. Ashton opened his lips and allowed Louis access. Ashton’s hands made their way to Louis’s hips, pulling him as close as possible. He pushed his hips up, making them both groan loudly.  Louis kissed his way down Ashton’s neck, still slowly grinding his hips. He sucked a small mark at the base of Ashton’s neck and bit down harshly. Ashton groaned.

“Jesus Christ, get a room,” Stan muttered.

“Gladly,” Louis smirked.

He stood up and grabbed Ashton’s hand. Louis placed one last peck on the other boy’s lips before dragging him upstairs to the guest bedroom.

“Use protection!” Stan called out after them.

“Fuck you!” Louis laughed.

-0-

“So you don’t think I messed everything up?” Harry asked for the third time.

“No,” Liam sighed, “I just think you tried to move a little too fast. Next time, think about a cheek kiss or something.

Harry bit his lip. “Should I text him?”

“Maybe not,” Liam said. “Maybe you should wait till he texts you.”

“Can _you_ text him?” Harry asked. “Just to, I don’t know, check on him or something. Make sure he made it to Doncaster alive.”

“Harry-“

“Please, Liam?” Harry pouted.

“Fine,” Liam groaned. He pulled out his phone and opened a new message.

**_‘Hey lou. make it to don ok?’_ **

_‘Hiiiiiiiiii Liaaaam :)))) yeah mde it jst fine. at stans now.’_

**_‘Lou are you drunk?’_ **

_‘Maaayybbeeee :))))’_

_‘But I mde a new frend! Lookie!’_

Liam opened the attached picture and sighed at the sight of it.

**_‘You know ur not supposed to drink on ur meds lou. be careful.’_ **

_‘I wiiilllll :)))’_

“He made it just fine,” Liam said.

“But?” Harry prompted.

“He’s at his friend Stan’s,” Liam explained. “And, well, he’s absolutely wasted.”

Harry looked over Liam’s shoulder. He pointed at the picture and Liam opened it. “Is that Stan?”

“No.” Liam ran his hands through his hair. “I’m actually not sure who that is. Just said it was a new friend.” Harry looked down. “But that is Stan’s living room in the background, so at least he’s not at some random club.”

“Yeah.” Harry pulled at the bottom of his shirt. “I’m just. I’m gonna go home.”

Liam frowned. “You okay?”

Harry forced a smile. “Yeah, yeah. I’ll call you later, okay?”

Harry wiped his eyes as he hastily made his way out to his car. He sat in the driver’s seat for a few minutes, taking deep breaths to calm himself down. He started to drive home.

Friends. Louis and that guy were just friends. That’s it. Friends don’t do anything with each other. Louis doesn’t do things like that.

But then Harry thought back to the time he went to the bar with Louis. He thought about how Louis was drunk and grinding on some stranger. If Louis would do that in some random club with a stranger, what would he do at his best friend’s house?

Harry shook his head and walked into his house. Louis wasn’t like that.

He sat on his bed and pulled out his phone. He debated whether or not to call Louis before giving up and plugging in his phone. He sighed. He stripped down to his boxers before crawling in bed. Every time he closed his eyes, he saw Louis kissing that guy from the photo.

It was going to be a long night. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yay for drunk Louis?
> 
> I had to do that because I have a weakness for Louis/Ashton so please don't kill me?
> 
> Hopefully the next chapter will be up soon. I'm trying to get better at updating, I promise!
> 
> Feedback?
> 
> Also, if you have any questions about the story or if you want to do character asks, just send me a message on my Tumblr- keepsitcovered :)


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I think this is the fastest I've updated? :O

Louis woke up the next morning with a pain in his head and an even bigger pain in his ass. He squeezed his eyes shut, but snapped them open when he realized he was lying on someone’s bare chest. He pushed himself away. It was then that he realized he was on the end of the bed. He fell to the floor, pulling the sheet down with him to cover his body. He landed with a thud. The other person in bed sat up quickly.

“Louis? You okay?”

Louis looked up. Ashton was looking over the edge of the bed with a concerned look.

“Yeah, yeah,” Louis said. “I just. Sorry for waking you.” He stood and quickly pulled on his boxers and sweatpants. “I’ll be back.”

He ran down the hall to Stan’s room and jumped on the bed.

“What the- Lou?” Stan groaned. “What are you doing?”

“Why the hell did you let me sleep with him?” Louis hissed. “I know I was drunk, but why didn’t you stop me, Stan? Why?”

“Because you needed to have a little fun,” Stan said sleepily. “Look, just go explain to him that you aren’t looking for a relationship because you’re smitten over someone back home-”

“I’m not-“

“-and I’m sure he’ll understand.”

Louis flicked Stan on the nose. “You’re a menace, Stanley Lucas.”

In his head, Louis thought about what he was going to say. He opened the door to the guest room slowly. Ashton was on the bed, scrolling through his phone. Louis walked over and sat next to him.

“Listen, Ashton,” he started, “about last night-“

Ashton cut him off. “We were both drunk.”

“Very,” Louis mumbled. “It’s just that, I’m not really looking for a relationship right now. My last boyfriend wasn’t very good to me, and I’m still trying to get over it. I normally wouldn’t do things like this if I was sober.”

“Me either,” Ashton said with a smile. “I’ve never had a good relationship so I’m not looking for one either. I’m not saying that I regret last night, but I understand that it’s not going to go anywhere else from there.”

Louis smiled a little. “Okay. Just- yeah. Okay. Thanks for understanding that.”

“Why wouldn’t I?” he asked.

“Like I said, my last boyfriend wasn’t very good.”

“I understand that, too. My last boyfriend roughed me up a bit.”

Louis looked up at Ashton. “Mine, too,” he said softly. “He, uh, he actually roughed me up a lot.”

Ashton grabbed Louis hand and ran his thumb over his knuckles. “If you ever want to talk about that, to someone who’s been through it, you can come to me, okay? I mean, we’ll both be living in London.”

Louis smiled. “Yeah, okay. How long are you here at Stan’s?”

“About a week,” Ashton answered. “And then I’m taking the train back to London.”

“I’m here for a week, as well, so why don’t I just drive you back to London?”

“Sounds good.”

Stan walked in. “Where do you guys wanna go for lunch?”

“I’ve actually gotta get home,” Louis said. “I promised Lottie a movie night, and you know her movie nights. They usually start right after lunch.” He stood up and put his shirt on.

Stan chuckled. “Guess we’ll see you later, then, Louis.”

Louis grabbed his bag. “Bye, guys.” He stopped at the door. “Hey, Ashton?”

“Yeah, Louis?” Ashton said.

Louis took a deep breath. “Get my number from Stan and text me, yeah?”

Ashton smiled. “Yeah.”

-0-

“You’ve got a love bite on your neck,” is the first thing Lottie said to him when he walked in.

“What?” Louis asked, panicked. He ran down the hall to the bathroom and looked at himself in the mirror. There, at the bottom of his neck, was a love bite. A really huge love bite. “Fuuuuck.”

“I thought you were with Stan,” Lottie said, “and I didn’t think he went that way.”

“Yeah, well, Stan doesn’t, but his cousin does,” Louis muttered. “We got drunk.” He turned to Lottie. “Don’t ever get drunk around a guy. Unless he’s gay. Then you can drink with him. But make sure he’s gay and not just tricking you.”

“Lou, are you okay?” she chuckled. “What exactly happened last night?”

“Well I got drunk. Ashton came over. I got even more drunk. I kissed him. And well.” He glanced at Lottie. “That’s exactly where it ended.” He walked back out into the living room.

“You sure?” She smirked and sat down on the couch beside him. “Because the limp in your step tells me you’re lying.”

Louis groaned. “Look, I really just don’t want to talk about this right now, okay? I just. I came here to get my mind off of Harry for a bit and now he’s all I can think about because, yes, I slept with Ashton and I feel like I betrayed Harry somehow even though there’s nothing going on between us and I just-“

“Lou, calm down,” Lottie said gently. “I understand, okay? You didn’t do anything wrong. Maybe you should sleep a little more? Try to get rid of the hangover? Fizzy and the twins are going to a friend’s tonight and mom’s going out for a bit so we’ll have the house to ourselves at like five. We can start our movie night then. Take a nap.”

Louis smiled. “Thanks, Lottie.”

Before he laid down, he pulled out his phone. He twirled it in his hands for a few minutes before finally opening up a new message to Harry.

_‘Movie night at my place when I get back, yeah? :) I’m leaving Saturday morning.’_

-0-

Harry was face down on his bed when his phone went off.

  _‘Movie night at my place when I get back, yeah? :) I’m leaving Saturday morning.’_

**_‘Yeah, sounds great :)’_ **

The response came a few hours later with a picture attached.

‘ _Save this picture for blackmail because I’m deleting it off his phone along with the message so he won’t see it xx’_

Louis was asleep on the couch. He had a Barbie blanket covering him and a bear snuggled to his chest. They were obviously his sister’s, but it was still adorable. His hair was falling into his eyes and his mouth was hung open slightly. Harry saved the picture.

**_‘Haha will do. Who exactly do I have to thank for this picture?’_ **

_‘It’s Lottie. Have a good day, Harry xx’_

**_‘You, too, Lottie x’_ **

-0-

“Do we _have_ to watch The Notebook?” Louis whined.

“Oh shut up, y’twat,” Lottie muttered. She put the DVD in and sat down on the couch. “You love this movie just as much as I do.”

“Just start the movie,” Louis grumbled and put his feet up in Lottie’s lap. His phone vibrated.

**_‘Hey Lou! Its Ashton :)’_ **

Louis bit back a smile.

-0-

“Mate, you look exhausted,” Stan said when he opened the door.

Louis glared at him. “You called me at nine in the bloody morning and woke me up after a movie night with Lottie.”

“Good point,” Stan laughed.

They walked into the living room to find Ashton sitting on the couch.

“Hey,” he smiled.

“Hey, Ashton,” Louis said. He sat down on the couch and put his feet in Ashton’s lap.

“What time did you end up going to bed?” Stan asked.

“Like three this morning,” Louis groaned. “Lottie was dead set on watching all of the Twilight movies.”

“Christ, that must have been awful.”

“You’re telling me.” Louis rolled his eyes.

“Your phone’s lighting up,” Ashton commented.

**_‘Morning Lou :)’_ **

Louis smiled and typed out a reply.

_‘Morning harry! What are you up to?’_

**_‘Waiting on mum to finish her shower so she can drive me to work. It’s pouring here!’_ **

Louis chuckled.

_‘It’s drizzling here. Wanna face time? Maybe that will keep you entertained until your mum is ready… And I kinda miss you.’_

**_‘Sounds good. I kinda miss you too :)’_ **

Louis sat up a little straighter on the couch and accepted the face time call when it came through. “Hey, Haz!”

“Hey, Louis,” Harry smiled.

“Hi Harry!” Stan shouted from the kitchen.

“Who was that?” Harry asked.

“That was Stan,” Louis said. “He’s in the kitchen doing god knows what and he’s a nosy twat.” He turned the phone around. “That’s Ashton, Stan’s cousin.”

“Hi, Harry,” Ashton waved.

Harry smiled, but it seemed a little forced. “Hi, Ashton.”

Louis turned the camera back towards him. “How’ve you been? It’s actually been a while since we’ve talked.”

“Yeah, it’s been a couple weeks,” Harry agreed. “I just. I’m sorry, for everything.”

Louis shook his head. “You have nothing to be sorry for, Harry.”

Harry didn’t argue. “How has your mum’s been?”

“Haven’t seen her much, to be honest,” Louis admitted. “She’s been working a lot. First night I was here, I spent it at Stan’s and got pretty drunk.” He glanced up to find Ashton blushing a little. “And then I slept off my hangover yesterday and had a movie night with Lottie.”

Harry bit back a smile. “I actually got an interesting picture from Lottie yesterday. You were napping on the couch.”

“I’ve got to see that picture,” Stan said, popping up behind Louis. “Send it!”

“I’m not supposed to let Louis see it!” Harry laughed. “It’s blackmail!”

“I don’t care!” Stan said. “Please please please send it!”

“I will on my way to work,” Harry smiled. “Speaking of. Mum’s ready. I’ve gotta go, Lou.”

“Text me during your break?” Louis asked shyly. Harry nodded. “Bye, Haz.”

“Bye, Boobear.”

Louis groaned and Harry laughed.

“You’re a menace, Harry,” Louis said.

Harry just smiled and hung up.

“You gonna tell him?” Stan asked.

“After turning him down for a date and running away when he tried to kiss me?” Louis scoffed. “Probably not.”

-0-

When Harry walked into the coffee shop, he noticed Zayn and Liam sitting at the counter talking to Niall. He walked up and put his head on Liam’s shoulder.

“Louis has a love bite,” he mumbled.

“What?” Liam asked.

“I just face timed with Louis,” Harry explained, “and he has a huge love bite on his neck. And I’m pretty sure he got it from Ashton.”

“Harry, he was drunk,” Liam mentioned. “If it is from Ashton, he wasn’t thinking.”

“Wait, what happened with Louis?” Zayn asked. “And who’s Ashton?”

“He’s Stan’s cousin or something,” Harry shrugged. “But he got drunk the night he got to Doncaster. He was texting Liam and sent a picture of him and Ashton. And I’m pretty sure something happened between them.”

“So what if something did?” Niall shrugged. “S’not like he’s in a relationship, Harry.”

“Niall,” Zayn said, “shut up.”

“No, he’s right,” Harry mumbled. “We’re not dating, so he can do whatever he wants. I don’t know why I’m acting like this.”

“It’s because you like him,” Zayn sighed. “And he’s too thick to admit he likes you, too. But at least you two are talking again, yeah?”

Harry smiled a little. “Yeah. He texted me yesterday and then we face timed this morning. It’s progress.”

Niall rolled his eyes and walked back into the kitchen.

“Ignore him, Harry,” Liam said softly. “Don’t let him interfere, okay? Keep trying with Louis.”

“I will.”

-0-

“Okay, so I have four little sisters, and the youngest two will probably ask a million questions each,” Louis explained as he and Ashton walked to his front door. “And don’t listen to anything Lottie says. She’s the oldest one with blonde hair.”

“Why shouldn’t I listen to her?” Ashton asked.

“Because she’s just going to be a little twat,” Louis said. “She was the first one to notice this-“ he pointed to the fading love bite on his neck, “-the night after we got drunk at Stan’s place. She likes to take the piss out of things.”

“Ah, got it,” Ashton chuckled.

Louis opened the door and peaked inside. “It seems to be clear, but I-“

Phoebe and Daisy came barreling down the stairs with Lottie chasing them. They were all giggling.

“Joy. They’re all hyper.” Louis groaned and opened the door so they could walk inside. The girls stopped running and looked at the boys. “Girls, this is Ashton.”

The twins smiled and waved while Lottie just smirked.

“Hi, Ashton!” Phoebe said. “I’m Phoebe.”

“And I’m Daisy,” she chimed in. “Are you Louis’s new friend?”

“Yes, I am,” Ashton smiled.

The twins ran off.

“So, _you’re_ Ashton,” Lottie said. “I’ve heard quite a bit about you-“

“Lottie, shut your mouth,” Louis said. He put his hand over her mouth and looked at Ashton apologetically. “I told you. She’s awful.”

“It’s okay, honestly,” Ashton laughed. “It happened. There’s nothing that can change it.”

Lottie raised an eyebrow. “Alright then. You two have fun.” She started to walk away but looked back over her shoulder. “But not too much fun.” She winked and ran down the hall.

Louis groaned and leaned back against the wall. “I’m going to kill her.”

“You’re not killing anyone,” Jay said as she came around the corner. She jumped a little when she saw Ashton. “Oh. Hi.”

“Hi, I’m Ashton,” he said. “I’m Stan’s cousin.”

Jay smiled. “Oh, yes. I remember now.”

“He lives in London so I figured I’d drive him home today so he wouldn’t have to take the train,” Louis explained. “It’ll also keep me from going insane on the drive back.”

“What time are you leaving, sweetie?” she asked with a frown.

“Probably in like fifteen minutes,” Louis said. “I’ll have to come back and visit soon, though. Forgot how much I loved this place.” His phone went off. “Oh, it’s Harry, I’ll be right back.” He started walking down the hall. “Hey, Haz.”

“So, Ashton,” Lottie said out of nowhere. Ashton jumped and turned around.

“Yes?”

“How much do you know about Louis?” she asked.

“Um-“

“I literally know everything, so don’t worry about revealing anything to me.”

“Oh,” Ashton said. “Well. I know about everything with Harry. Like, the almost kiss and all. And he told me that his ex-boyfriend roughed him up a bit. That’s all I really know. I can tell there’s more, but I’m not gonna push.”

“That’s good,” she smiled softly.

“I know how he feels, though,” he shrugged. “My ex wasn’t exactly the best.”

Louis walked back into the living room with a smile on his face. “Lottie, are you interrogating him?”

“Now why on earth would I ever do that?” she said innocently.

“Cause you’re a nosy little twat,” he said. He pulled her in and hugged her. “I’ll see you soon, yeah?”

She squeezed him a little. “Yeah. Take care of yourself, Lou.”

He smiled. “I will, Lotts.”

Louis said goodbye to the rest of his family with promises to come back soon.

“Bring Harry!” Daisy said.

“Yeah, bring Harry!” Phoebe agreed. “I miss him.”

“I’ll see what I can do,” he promised.

He piled his and Ashton’s bags in the backseat and got in the car.

“Car rides make me sleepy, so I can’t promise I’ll be awake the entire ride,” Ashton said. “But at least I’ll fall asleep here instead of on the train. I almost missed my stop.”

Louis chuckled. “I’ve got a pillow in the backseat if you wanna use it. We’ll be in London in about three hours.”

Ashton reached into the back and grabbed the pillow. “Thanks.”

The drive home went by quickly. Louis had the radio playing softly. He glanced over at Ashton a few times. He was curled up in the seat with his head against the window. It didn’t look comfortable at all, but he was out. He didn’t even budge when Louis yelled profanities at drivers who cut him off.

Louis pulled over to the side of the road and parked the car outside the coffee shop. He unbuckled his seatbelt and pushed Ashton’s shoulder a few times.

“Wakey wakey Ashton,” he said in a sing song voice. Ashton groaned. “Ash, we’re in London.”

Ashton slowly opened his eyes and rubbed them. “Wassit?”

“We’re in London,” Louis repeated. “We’re at the best coffee shop in town. You obviously need coffee.”

Louis got out of the car and walked over to Ashton’s door to open it. He then led a sleepy Ashton into the shop and into a seat at the counter.

“Lou, you’re back!” Niall shouted. He eyed Ashton, who had put his head on the counter. “And you brought back a boy?”

“That’s Ashton,” Louis said. “He’s Stan’s cousin that just moved to London.”

Ashton finally raised his head and smiled. “Hi.”

“Hey, mate,” Niall laughed. “I’m Niall.”

Harry walked in from the back and his face broke out into a huge grin. “Hey, Lou.”

“Hi, Haz,” Louis smiled back. “You’re gonna be off in time for our movie night, right?”

“Course,” Harry promised. “I get off at five.”

“Just come straight over, okay? I’ll have all the popcorn and stuff.”

Harry nodded.

“Oh!” Louis said suddenly. “Ashton, this is Harry.” Ashton turned from where he was talking to Niall. “Harry, this is Stan’s cousin, Ashton.”

Harry forced a smile. He noticed a faint love bite on Ashton’s neck. It matched the one Louis had. It was almost as if Niall knew what he was thinking if the stern look said anything.

“Loueh!”

Zayn ran and tackled Louis in a hug, knocking him into the counter.

“Wha-shit,” Louis gasped. “Zayn, what the hell?”

“I’ve missed you,” Zayn said. He still had a tight grip around Louis. “You’ve been gone.”

“Yeah, for a week,” Louis said. “Now get off me!”

Ashton was laughing.

“This is what I live with,” Louis rolled his eyes. “Ash, this is Zayn. Zayn, this is Ashton.” Louis pouted. “I’m tired of introductions.”

“I’ll make a name tag so you won’t have to worry,” Ashton said seriously.

Louis nodded. “Good, good. Even though there’s really only one person left. Where is Liam, by the way?”

“Ask Zayn,” Niall smirked. “I’m pretty sure they’ve been together all week doing-“

“Okay, Niall!” Zayn interrupted. He was blushing.

“What?” Louis gasped. “Zayn? And Liam? How much did I miss?”

“A lot, apparently,” Niall laughed.

Louis looked over at Harry, who hadn’t spoken in a while. He was playing with his thumbs and looking down. Louis walked over to him and poked his chest.

“You okay, Haz?” he asked.

“Yeah,” Harry said quietly. “I’m fine.”

Louis pouted. “Then smile!” Harry forced a smile. “Harry.”

“I’m fine, I promise,” Harry assured him. “Just got a bit of a headache.”

Louis wasn’t convinced. “I’ve got some medicine at home you can take tonight if you need it.”

“Thanks.”

Louis bit his lip. “Maybe you should go home when you get off to get some clothes. I’ll pick you up there when you’re ready and you can just stay the night, yeah?”

Harry smiled again, but this time it reached his eyes. “Really?”

“Really.” Louis smiled. “I’ve gotta get Ashton home, but I’ll see you later, okay?” He held his arms up. “Now come hug me.”

Harry rolled his eyes, but smiled. He walked around the counter and wrapped his arms around Louis.

“I’ve really missed you,” he whispered quietly.

Louis’s breath hitched, but he still responded. “I’ve missed you, too, H.” He pulled away. “Have fun at work.”

“I’ll try,” Harry chuckled. “Pick good movies!”

Louis laughed. He grabbed Ashton’s arm and pulled him towards the door, careful not to spill his coffee. “Bye, Harry!”

“Bye, Lou!”

Ashton eyed him skeptically when he started the car.

“What?” Louis asked.

“You said you wanted to stop here for coffee, yet you left with no coffee,” Ashton said. He sipped at his coffee to make a point. “What’s the real reason you stopped here?”

“Maybe I wanted you to try their coffee,” Louis tried.

“You knew Harry would be working,” the other boy smirked. “You totally wanted to see him!”

“Shut up,” Louis blushed.

“He is cute,” Ashton mused. “I see why you wanted to go by.” He glanced over to see Louis scowling at the road. He giggled. “I’m just kidding, Lou.”

Louis changed the subject. “Where do you live anyways?”

“I live in a flat on Madison avenue,” Ashton replied.

“That’s only like three blocks over from me,” Louis commented.

Louis finished the drive in silence. He pulled into the car park beside the building. He grabbed one of Ashton’s bags and followed him to the door.

“Thanks for driving me home,” Ashton said softly. “We should hang out soon.”

“We should,” Louis agreed. “Just not tonight. Maybe tomorrow night? You could come over to mine and Zayn’s for dinner?”

“Sounds good,” Ashton smiled. He was quiet for a minute. “You should really tell Harry you like him.”

“Wh-what?” Louis stuttered. “I don’t-“

“Lou, don’t lie to yourself. It’ll only make things harder.”

Louis bit his lip and shook his head. “I’ve gotta go, Ashton.”

Ashton stepped forward to hug Louis. “Bye, Lou.”

Louis stepped back. Hesitantly, he leaned forward and pressed a kiss on Ashton’s cheek. “Bye, Ash.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Feedback?
> 
> You guys can tell me what you wanna read! Do you want Louis to end up with Ashton? Or do you want him to go straight to Harry? Or what? I mean, I have a general plan, but let me know what you guys want! :)
> 
> Also: Character asks are welcome! Just head on over to my tumblr and ask away! keepsitcovered


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so so sorry about the wait! :( But I think this might make up for it? 
> 
> Um there's a bit of Harry/Michael in there.... And it also needs a trigger warning for self-harm. Oh. And Louis talks a bit about rape in the beginning.

Louis drove over to Harry’s house as soon as Harry texted him. He walked up to Harry’s door and knocked. Harry pulled the door open.

“Hey,” Harry smiled. He looked down. ”Nice jumper.”

Louis blushed a little and shrugged. He was wearing the jumper that Harry had left at his house. “It’s comfortable.” Harry laughed. Louis tried to scowl, but he cracked and started giggling. “Are you coming or not, curly?”

“Course,” Harry answered.

Harry stood close to Louis’s side, their hands brushing as they walked to the car. Harry tossed his bag in the backseat. He climbed into the passenger seat with a small smile. Louis got in the driver’s seat and started the car. He glanced over at Harry before driving back to his flat.

“So what movies have you picked out for this glorious evening?” Harry asked.

Louis giggled again. “A few classics, a few rom-coms, and a few Disney movies,” he answered. “Figured you could narrow it down to the few we’ll actually watch.”

“I hope you have Bambi,” Harry said excitedly. Louis raised his eyebrow. “What? Bambi is amazing!”

Louis shook his head with a smile. “You are something else, Harry Styles.”

-0-

“Get off of me!”

“Take it back then!” Louis yelled.

“Never!”

Louis had Harry face first on the carpet, arms pinned behind his back. Louis was sitting on Harry’s bum.

“I’m not letting you go until you take back what you said!” Louis said.

“Fine, fine!” Harry said. “I take it back!”

“Repeat after me: Grease is the greatest movie in the history of all time.”

Harry rolled his eyes. “Grease is the greatest movie of all time.”

Louis smiled and patted Harry’s back before standing up. He was up for approximately ten seconds before being tackled to the ground. He landed on his back with a very unmanly squeal. Harry was sat on top of his stomach.

“Hi,” Harry smiled. “Doesn’t feel so nice, does it?”

Louis pouted. “Off.”

“Nope,” Harry said. He grabbed Louis’s wrists and pinned them over his head.

Louis squirmed around. “You’re a menace, Harry Styles.”

“So are you, Louis Tomlinson.”

Louis fake glared at Harry. “You’re so mean. Get off of me.”

Louis was starting to get a little uncomfortable. Harry was sitting directly on his crotch. Harry’s face was too close to his for comfort. He squirmed a little more. Harry finally laughed and climbed off of Louis and helping him up. They both sat on the couch.

“So can we watch something besides Grease?”

Louis narrowed his eyes at Harry and tackled him backwards on the couch.

-0-

“What the hell are they doing down there?” Zayn asked. “All I can hear is screeching.”

“I’m kind of nervous to go check,” Liam said slowly, “but I’m thinking we should. What if they’re naked?”

Zayn laughed. “Louis is not going to be naked. Can’t say for Harry, though.”

Zayn and Liam walked down the stairs quietly. They peeked around the corner to the living room and saw Louis sitting on top of Harry. Harry was trying to get up and Louis was holding onto the back of the couch tightly. They were both laughing. Zayn and Liam went into the kitchen.

“I haven’t seen Louis that happy in a while,” Zayn said quietly with a soft smile. “It’s nice.”

“I wish he would just realize that he likes Harry, too,” Liam frowned. “They’re both going to end up hurt in the end.”

Zayn walked over to Liam and hugged him from behind. “Things are going to work out, babe. I promise.”

Liam smiled and turned his head to kiss Zayn. “Hopefully.”

-0-

Harry was leaning against the arm of the couch with Louis in his lap.

“Are you a virgin?” Louis asked randomly.

Harry laughed. “Nope,” he smiled, shaking his head. “Are you?”

“Of course not,” Louis snorted. “I’d lean more towards slut.”

“You’re not a slut, Louis,” Harry said softly. “I promise you that you’re not.”

Louis smiled a little. “Thanks, Harry.” Things were quiet for a few minutes. “You wanna know more about me?”

“Course.”

“My ex raped me a lot,” Louis said. Harry’s jaw dropped. “He says that it wasn’t rape because we were dating, but I didn’t want him at all.” He ran his fingers over Harry’s arms. “The last time was a few months ago, not long before I met you, actually. He’s still convinced that I want him.”

“Oh, Lou,” Harry said softly. He pulled Louis closer to him. “You don’t deserve any of that.”

Louis shrugged. “Everything happens for a reason, right?”

“Maybe it’s time that you found someone who would treat you right.”

Louis glanced up at Harry. “Yeah. Maybe it is.” He smiled.

-0-

Louis woke up to Harry picking him up. “What’re you doing?” he mumbled.

“You fell asleep on the couch,” Harry said softly. “We’re going up to your room.”

Louis nodded and wrapped his arms around Harry’s neck. He breathed in Harry’s scent. Harry laid him down in the bed and crawled in next to him. Louis curled into his side.

“G’night, Haz,” Louis yawned.

Harry pressed his lips against Louis’s hair. “Night, Lou.”

Louis woke up with his face pressed against Harry’s chest and their legs tangled together. He smiled and moved closer.

“Morning,” Harry murmured.

“Morning,” Louis said sleepily. He moved closer to Harry. “You’re warm.”

Harry chuckled. He wrapped his arm around Louis’s waist. “You’re cuddly.”

“He’s like a fucking koala.”

Harry and Louis both looked towards the door to find Zayn standing there with a smile.

“Anyways,” Zayn said, flipping the lights on, “Liam went out and got donuts for us all and they’re in the kitchen.”

“Liam was here last night?” Louis asked. He sat up and stretched, still in Harry’s big jumper.

Zayn blushed and rubbed the back of his neck. “Yeah.”

Louis jumped up and ran over to Zayn. “I expect details, Malik!”

Zayn rolled his eyes and walked away. Louis pouted.

“Phone’s going off, Lou,” Harry said.

Louis grabbed his phone. “Hey, Ashton.”

“ _Hey, Louis,”_ Ashton said. “ _About dinner tonight.”_

Louis frowned. “What about dinner?” He started biting his nails.

“ _My roommate came back from vacation early and I was wondering if there was any way he could come over, too?”_

“Yeah, that’s fine,” Louis said. He leaned back against Harry. “I’ll kidnap Harry and make him stay for dinner, too.”

Ashton laughed. _“Okay. So, I’ll see you at six?”_

“Okay. Bye, Ash.”

“ _Bye, Lou.”_

“So I guess I’m staying for dinner?” Harry asked. Louis nodded. “What’s the occasion?”

“Ashton was coming over for dinner to get to know Zayn, and now Ashton’s bringing his roommate, so I’m bringing you.” Louis sighed. “I didn’t even know he had a roommate. I thought he just kind of moved here alone.”

Harry wrapped his arms around Louis’s waist. “Well, I’ll come over any time you want me to. Especially if there’s free food.”

Louis giggled and stood up. “Speaking of food, there’s donuts downstairs. Let’s go!” He grabbed Harry’s hand and pulled him up, dragging him down the stairs.

Harry followed Louis, trying not to trip over his own feet. He laughed loudly. Louis let go of his hand as soon as they reached the kitchen. “Donuts!”

Harry laughed quietly and shook his head, walking over to the counter. “You are a child, Louis.”

“That would make you a pedophile considering we slept in the same bed.” Louis stuck his tongue out.

Harry shoved Louis playfully. “Shush, you.”

Harry felt butterflies in his stomach. Louis was so beautiful. He loved how Louis could be so happy after everything that had happened to him. He was so bright and adorable and- wow. Harry was so gone for this boy.

“I don’t even know what I’m gonna do for dinner,” Louis sighed. “I don’t want to just get pizza, but I can’t cook for shit.”

“I can’ cook lasagna if you want me to,” Harry suggested. “It’s pretty easy.”

“Really?” Louis asked. Harry nodded. “Oh, Haz, you’re the best!” Louis ran over and hugged harry, kissing him on the cheek. Time froze for a second before Louis stepped back. “Um, okay. What time should you start? I’ll have to go buy the ingredients.”

“I should probably start making it around four,” Harry said. “That way I have time to prepare it and cook it.”

Louis nodded. “I’m gonna shower, okay? You’re welcome to use the downstairs bathroom.”

He ran up the stairs before Harry could respond.

-0-

“Louis!” Ashton exclaimed, hugging Louis’s waist and spinning him around.

“Put me down!” Louis laughed, squirming in Ashton’s arms. “You just saw me the other day!”

Ashton placed a wet kiss on Louis’s cheek while Harry watched from the doorway of the kitchen. “I know, but I missed you.” He finally set Louis on his feet. “Louis, this is my roommate Michael.”

“Hi,” Michael smiled. “Nice to meet you.”

“You, too.” Louis reached over and grabbed Harry’s hand, pulling him into the group. “This is Harry.”

Harry smiled shyly at Michael. “Hi.”

“Hi,” Michael said back, winking cheekily. Harry blushed.

Louis narrowed his eyes at Michael. “Alright. Well, young Hazza here has prepared a lovely lasagna so let’s go eat.”

Louis positioned himself between Harry and Michael as they walked to the kitchen. He didn’t like the way that they were looking at each other.

Michael flirted with Harry all throughout dinner, and Harry could tell that Louis was uncomfortable with it. He kept his chair close to Louis’s, but couldn’t help but smile and giggle at the things that came out of Michael’s mouth. Michael was funny and witty, a lot like Louis. But he actually seemed to like Harry back.

Right before Ashton and Michael left, Michael pulled Harry to the side.

“So, um, I was wondering,” he said softly, “if maybe you wanted to go see a movie together?”

“Like as a date?” Harry asked. Michael nodded. “Okay. Yeah. A movie sounds nice.”

Michael smiled brightly and put his number in Harry’s phone before he left. Harry turned around and saw Louis standing behind him.

“I’m just. I’m gonna call it a night,” Louis said quietly, not making eye contact with Harry. “Bye, Harry.” He walked upstairs and locked himself in his room.

Zayn walked down and gave Harry a confused look. “What’s up with Louis? He just ran passed me. Seemed pretty upset.”

Harry blushed and rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. “Well, Michael just asked me out on a date. And I said yes.”

“Harry,” Zayn groaned.

“I’m sorry, okay?” Harry said, crossing his arms. “Michael seems like a nice guy and he’s actually showing interest in me, so I’m gonna take my chance.”

“Y’know, me and Lou have been talking. I’m pretty sure he was about to give you your chance.” Zayn shook his head. “But oh well. Have fun with Michael on your date. Bye, Harry.”

Harry sighed. “But-“

Zayn gave Harry a stern look. “Bye, Harry.”

Harry left and started his walk home. He wiped at his cheeks. “So stupid,” he muttered. “So fucking stupid.”

“Want a ride?”

He jumped a little and looked over to see Michael smiling through a car window. “You look cold.”

Harry smiled and got in the backseat. “Thanks. I thought you had left already.”

“We had, but Louis called Ashton before we got home and asked him to come back over,” Michael shrugged. Harry frowned. “Saw you walking and thought I’d pull over. Where do you live?”

“We should hang out,” Harry said instead. “I mean, your roommate’s gone and I have no other friends in this town.”

Michael chuckled. “Alright.”

Michael drove Harry back to his place and led him inside. They sat down on the couch, just making small talk. Michael’s hand made its way to Harry’s thigh, moving up every so often.

-0-

“Lou, calm down,” Ashton said softly, holding Louis close to his chest. “Are you sure that’s what happened?”

“Mi-Michael asked Harry t-to the movies and he s-said yes,” Louis cried, fisting his hand in Ashton’s shirt. “I th-thought he liked me!”

“He does, Louis. I promise.” Ashton kissed Louis’s head. “He looks at you like you’re his entire world.”

Louis sobbed against Ashton’s chest. He knew that he was overreacting. He wasn’t making any moves on Harry, so why wouldn’t he find someone else? Louis pulled back and wiped his cheeks. “Why do I have to be so fucked up?”

“You’re not-“

“I am, Ashton!” Louis said. “I’m so fucked up that I can’t even appreciate what I have! Harry’s so nice and I can’t even be with him because I’m too scared.”

“That’s not your fault,” Ashton said, grabbing Louis’s chin. “None of that is your fault. Jason fucked you over and you have every right to act the way you do. And if Harry doesn’t understand that, then you don’t need him.”

Louis sniffled and laid his head on Ashton’s shoulder. “I just don’t know what to do. I really like him, but I don’t think I’m ready for a relationship yet.”

“I know, Lou. I know.”

-0-

“I’m not sure- _ahh_ \- if we should be doing this,” Harry panted, tangling his hand in Michael’s hair.

Michael looked up from where he was sucking a love bite into Harry’s hip bone. “You want me to stop?” He ran his fingertips over the bulge in Harry’s pants.

Harry bit his lip and shook his head. “Keep going.”

Michael unbuttoned Harry’s pants and pulled them down to his thighs. He mouthed over Harry’s cock through the thin material of his boxers.

“Fuck,” Harry breathed, “stop teasing.”

The blonde chuckled and pulled Harry’s boxers down and immediately took his cock into his mouth.

-0-

“Call me later, okay?” Ashton said, kissing Louis’s cheek.

Louis nodded, eyes a little puffy from crying. “Thanks for staying the night, Ash.”

“No problem.”

Ashton waved goodbye to Louis and drove home. When he walked in, his jaw dropped. Harry and Michael were on the couch, both naked from the waist down.

“What the fuck?!”

Michael jumped up and looked around with wide eyes. “Wha?” Harry sat up and rubbed his eyes.

“Put some fucking clothes on,” Ashton said, covering his eyes. He waited until they both had their boxers on before he talked again, glaring at Harry. “What the fuck?”

“What?” Harry asked, standing up to put his pants on.

“How could you do this to Louis?” Ashton crossed his arms. “You know how much he likes you.”

“No, actually, I don’t,” Harry said. “He’ll barely touch me half the time. Seems like he likes you more than me.”

“That’s not true and you know it.”

Harry rolled his eyes and slipped his shoes on. “Whatever.”

“I want you out,” Ashton spat. “Louis is a really nice guy who’s suffered a lot and I don’t want to be around someone who would do this to him.”

Michael stood up and frowned. “You can’t do that, Ashton. He’s my friend.”

“You can hang out with him all you want, just not when I’m here.” He glared at Harry. “You’re a dick. Do you realize how much this is going to hurt Louis when he finds out?”

“He won’t find out unless you tell him,” Harry shrugged.

“Which I plan on doing. Now.” Ashton grabbed his keys and walked back to the door.

“Wait!” Harry ran over and put his hand on Louis’s shoulder. “You can’t tell him.”

“Why the hell not?”

“Cause it’ll tear him apart,” Harry said softly.

“Yeah.” Ashton shrugged Harry’s hand away. “And it’ll be all your fucking fault.” Harry reached out again. “Don’t fucking touch me.”

Ashton slammed the door in Harry’s face and drove back over to Louis’s. Louis broke down in Ashton’s arms and cried for hours.

-0-

“Louis hasn’t left the house in a few days,” Zayn sighed, frowning at his tea. “I never thought Harry would do this.”

“I told you guys that Harry shouldn’t have gotten involved with Louis,” Niall pointed out. “This is why. Harry got bored and moved on.”

They both looked up when the bell above the door rang. Michael and Harry walked in laughing. Niall scowled at them.

“What’re you gonna order?” Michael asked, oblivious to Niall and Zayn.

“I dunno,” Harry replied quietly, avoiding Niall’s eyes.

“Hey, Sean, can you take this order?” Niall called out.

Sean walked over to the register and frowned a little. “Why can’t you?”

“I need to have a little talk with our friend Harry, here.”

Harry gulped audibly and looked up at Niall. “What?”

Niall glared. “What did I tell you, Harry?”

“Niall, I can explain-“

“I told you that you were going to hurt him!” Niall was glad there was nobody else in the shop. “I fucking told you! What happened, huh? You got bored? So you found someone else to fool around with? And now Louis is fucking destroyed because of you. He thought you actually cared about him.”

“I do care about him!” Harry insisted. “I really do, but I didn’t want to wait around for Louis-“

Niall scowled at Harry. “Are you fucking kidding me? You told us you would wait for him! That’s the only reason Liam and Zayn thought you’d be good for Louis! I knew from the beginning that you were gonna hurt him. God only knows what Louis’s doing to himself right now. He won’t talk to anybody.”

Harry frowned and looked down. “I’m sorry.”

“Get your drink and get the fuck out.” Niall walked back into the kitchen, slamming the door behind him.

Harry looked over at Zayn with a skeptical look. Zayn shrugged. “I’d say I’m sorry about him, but I agree. You fucked Louis over.” Zayn stood up. “He won’t even talk to me. I’m worried about him, honestly.”

“I’m sorry,” Harry repeated brokenly.

Zayn shook his head and stood up. “I’ll accept that when Louis gets better. You’ve gotta fix this, mate.”

Harry sighed and took his drink from Michael as they walked outside.

“What was that all about?” Michael asked. “Did you and Louis have something going on?”

“No,” Harry said, shaking his head. “I wanted something, honestly. Kind of still do. But he’s had some bad experiences with relationships. I knew he wasn’t ready, but I promised I wouldn’t hurt him. And I did.”

Michael frowned a little. “I’m sorry, Harry. I shouldn’t have tried anything with you.”

“This isn’t your fault,” Harry said, looking up at Michael. “I would’ve stopped you if I wasn’t comfortable with it.”

“I’ll drop you off at his house. You should talk to him.”

Michael got out and hugged Harry when they arrived at Louis’s house. They kissed softly, unaware of Louis watching from the upstairs window.

And that’s how Harry found himself knocking on Louis’s front door, absolutely terrified. He went to knock again when it opened, an angry Ashton standing behind it.

“What the fuck are you doing here?”

“I need to talk to Louis, please,” Harry said desperately.

“No,” Ashton glared. “You messed up.”

“I need to fix it!” Harry pleaded, pushing his way passed Ashton. He ran upstairs and heard Louis crying from the bathroom. He knocked on the door. “Louis?”

“Go the fuck away!” Louis yelled, voice thick with tears. He sniffled, wiping his cheeks.

“Louis, please,” Harry begged, turning the doorknob. He was shocked to find it open. “Lou-“ He stopped at the scene in front of him.

Louis was sitting on the toilet, blood dripping from both wrists and a blade in his hand. He looked up at Harry with wide eyes. Harry felt a little sick from the amount of blood he saw. He grabbed a rag and pressed it against one of Louis’s wrists, prying the blade from his hand.

“Lou, what’re you doing to yourself?” he asked softly.

“What the fuck do you care?” Louis asked, trying to free his wrist from Harry’s grip. It was useless.

Harry cleaned Louis’s wrists in silence and looked up at him. “Why?”

“Cause you fucking have Michael now,” Louis spat.

“Louis-“

“You’re not supposed to like other people, Harry!” Louis exclaimed suddenly. “You’re not supposed to give up on me!”

“I’m not giving up on you, Louis, but you need to realize that I need someone to care about me, too!” Harry yelled back.

Louis scoffed. “I care about you! Of course I fucking care about you! If I didn’t, I wouldn’t care what you did or who you liked.”

“If you care, maybe you should show it.” Harry ran his hand through his hair. “God, Louis. You know how much I like you. You know how much I care about you, but you act like it doesn’t matter. How do you think I feel when you can barely hug me without panicking, but you can let Ashton fuck you like it’s no big deal?”

“I’m sorry okay?” Louis whispered. “With Ashton, there’s no commitment. Just friends with benefits. You’re a completely different story. I want there to be something with us, Harry, something real. And that terrifies me. I can’t risk fucking things up between us.”

“Can’t fuck things up if you don’t try in the first place,” Harry said harshly. Louis flinched a little. “Look, Louis-“

Louis cut Harry off by pushing him against the wall and leaned up on his tip toes. He pushed every though out of his mind and took a deep breath. Harry glanced down at Louis’s lips before looking back at his eyes. “Lou-“

Louis pressed their lips together.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Don't kill me?
> 
> Character asks welcome on my tumblr- keepsitcovered


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ugh, I’m so sorry for taking so long to update! I hit a total writers block, and I barely managed to get a decent length for this. It’s still shorter than my other chapters. There’s a tiny bit of attempted smut (frottage).

Harry’s eyes widened dramatically before he closed them and pulled Louis’s body flush against his. He eagerly moved his lips against Louis’s. His mind was in overdrive. It was a constant stream of _LouisLouisLouis_ and _lipslipslips._ Harry licked along Louis’s bottom lip before Louis pulled away.

“Please don’t give up on me,” he whispered. “I really really like you, Harry. Honestly.”

“I really really like you, too, Louis,” Harry whispered back. “I would never give up on you.”

The corners of Louis’s mouth twitched up a little as he pecked Harry’s lips. “Stay with me?”

Harry wrapped his arms around Louis’s waist and nodded. “Always. Go on a date with me?”

Louis chewed on his bottom lip a little. It was quiet for a few minutes before, “Yes.”

Harry smiled brightly. “Kiss me again?”

Louis chuckled and shook his head, pressing their lips together again.

-0-

Zayn set his mug down and sighed. “I’m really worried about Lou.”

“I know, babe,” Liam said softly, rubbing Zayn’s arm. “But he’s gonna be okay.”

“He hasn’t left the house in days. And I’m positive he’s been cutting again. I’m so scared that Harry may have actually broken him. He’s so… Wow. I hate to see him cry.”

Liam wrapped his arms around Zayn and kissed his forehead. “C’mon, Zayn. Let’s go check on Louis, yeah? Let’s go make sure he’s okay.”

He led Zayn out to the car, holding his hand as they drove. Zayn paused by the door.

“He probably looks really bad, okay?” he said softly. “Just. Don’t be shocked.” Zayn opened the door and gasped. “Holy shit.”

Louis quickly sat up, pulling away from Harry’s lips. He flattened down his hair where Harry’s hands had messed it up. Harry chewed on his kiss swollen lips, blushing brightly.

“What the hell are you doing here?” Zayn spat, narrowing his eyes at Harry. “You’ve no right to be here!”

“I, uh, um,” Harry stammered, taken aback by the anger in Zayn’s voice.

“Get the hell out!” Zayn yelled.

Louis frowned and stood in front of Harry. “He isn’t leaving.”

Zayn looked at Louis and furrowed his eyebrows. “You’re seriously going to let him stay after everything he put you through?”

“Yeah, I am. Problem?” Louis crossed his arms. “Look, Zayn. Me and Harry talked, okay? We’re, uh, gonna try and see how things turn out.”

Zayn huffed, scowling at Harry.

“Zayn,” Harry sighed. “I know I fucked up, okay? I fucked up big time. Is there any way you can forgive me?” Zayn stormed up the stairs. “Guess not.”

Liam walked over and ruffled Harry’s curls. “Well. I’m happy for you two.”

Harry stood, smiling softly. “Thanks, Li.” He turned to Louis. “Pick you up at seven?”

“Yeah,” he replied softly, pecking Harry’s cheek. “See you then, love.”

Louis watched as Harry left, smiling softly.

“He’ll make you happy,” Liam said quietly. “I know he will.”

“He already has.” Louis turned to face Liam. “Mind if I go talk to Zayn?”

Liam shook his head, putting his hand on Louis’s shoulder. “I’ll wait down here. You go talk to him.”

Louis smiled a little and walked upstairs. He walked into Zayn’s room without knocking.

“Go away,” Zayn mumbled.

“But Zaaayn,” Louis pouted, climbing on top of him. “I wanna cuddle.”

Zayn groaned, turning onto his stomach. “Go away.”

Louis huffed and crossed his arms. “Why aren’t you happy for me, Zayn?”

“Because Harry’s a dick,” he replied. “He hurt you and he doesn’t deserve you.”

“I hurt him, too,” Louis pointed out. “I slept with Ashton, for crying out loud.”

“Yeah, but you two weren’t dating then, so he had no right to get upset!”

Louis flicked Zayn’s head. “And we weren’t dating when he did those things with Michael!”

Zayn stayed quiet for a few minutes. “So you’re really happy?”

“I really am,” Louis said quietly, lying down beside Zayn. “We talked for like an hour, Zayn. Harry’s so amazing, honestly. He makes me so happy and we aren’t even officially dating yet. I feel like this could be a new beginning for me.” He sighed softly. “I really want this to work out, Zayn.”

“I do, too,” Zayn whispered. “You deserve happiness, Lou. You deserve it more than anybody. And I guess, if Harry is the one to make you happy, then I’ll deal with it.”

Louis smiled, kissing Zayn’s forehead. “Thank you. I know it’s kind of early, but I feel like Harry could be the one, Zayn. I mean, he walked in on me cutting myself and he didn’t freak.”

Zayn frowned. “You’ve been cutting again?”

“Not the point,” he mumbled. “The point is, Harry is amazing and he makes me happy, okay? Now I’ve gotta go get ready for my date.”

“I never thought I’d hear those words again,” Zayn chuckled.

-0-

Harry wasn’t freaking out. _He wasn’t._ Except, he totally was.

Harry had been waiting so long for this date. He had clothes thrown all over his room, trying to find the perfect outfit. He wanted tonight to be so absolutely _perfect_ and he had no idea how to make it that way. He groaned and fell backwards onto his bed, staring up at his ceiling. There was less than an hour left until he had to pick up Louis. Harry still had no idea what he was wearing or where he was taking Louis.

“Need help, baby brother?” Gemma chuckled, leaning against Harry’s door frame.

Harry groaned pathetically. “Yes. What do I wear? Where do I take him? What do I do?”

Gemma laughed and shook her head, walking over to Harry’s bed. “Classic first date. Take him to dinner, and then a movie if he wants. Wear something casual, but dressy.” She grabbed clothes and dropped them on Harry’s chest. “Black jeans and a button up are your safest route. Now get your lazy arse up and get dressed, then I’ll help you with your hair.”

Harry sat up and kissed Gemma’s cheek. “Thank you. You are a life saver.”

“Yeah, yeah. Now get dressed! Your boy is waiting on you.” Gemma smiled and walked out of Harry’s room.

Harry struggled to pull his jeans on, mentally cursing Gemma for picking out his tightest pair. He pulled his shirt on and buttoned it up, tucking the ends into his pants. When he finished getting dressed, he walked into the bathroom where Gemma was waiting for him.

“Are you looking to get laid, or no?” she asked bluntly.

Harry blushed. “What? No! Gemma!”

Gemma laughed, unbuttoning the top two buttons of Harry’s shirt. “Just wondering. Okay, Louis likes your curls, so keep them down. Just tame them a bit.” She put some sort of hair product in her hands and ran it through his hair. “There. You look great, H.”

Harry looked at himself in the mirror, smiling softly. “Thank you, Gemma. Thank you so much.”

“You’re welcome, H.” She kissed Harry’s cheek and pushed him towards the front door. “Now go get your boy!”

-0-

“Lou, you look great,” Zayn said for the hundredth time. “Stop worrying.”

Louis tugged on the hem of his shirt. “Are you sure? You don’t think the shirt is wrong? Should I change? I should probably change.”

Zayn rolled his eyes and grabbed Louis’s shoulder. “Louis, I’m going to slap you if you don’t shut up.” Louis immediately closed his mouth. “You look amazing, okay? Harry would be stupid to think otherwise. He’s going to be here any minute, so you need to calm down.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Louis nodded. “Yeah, okay. Calm. I can do that.”

Zayn chuckled and kissed Louis’s forehead as the doorbell rang. “Make sure he treats you right.”

Louis smiled and walked over to the door, slowly opening it. “Hi.”

“Hi,” Harry whispered, smiling widely. “You look great.”

Louis blushed a little. “Thanks. So do you.”

“Let’s go then, shall we?” Harry grabbed Louis’s hand and led him to the car.

-0-

“God, that waiter was a dick,” Louis laughed, leaning against Harry’s side.

“Yeah, he was.” Harry giggled softly and squeezed Louis’s hip. “Let’s go to the park.”

Louis giggled and followed Harry to the park. He couldn’t remember the last time he had been this happy. He glanced up, watching the way Harry’s face lit up whenever he talked about something he loved. He felt his heart skip a beat.

“Lou?” Harry asked, furrowing his eyebrows a bit.

Louis blushed and shook his head, laughing nervously. “Sorry. I zoned out.”

Harry laughed quietly and kissed Louis’s cheek. “Let’s go swing.”

They walked over to the swing, reluctantly letting their hands fall from each other. Louis climbed onto the swing, moving his legs.

They didn’t talk much as they swung, just sharing soft smiles. Louis sighed happily, looking up at the stars. He swung his legs back and forth, swinging higher and higher. They both squealed when the park’s automatic sprinklers came on. Harry laughed, jumping off the swing.

“Agh, it’s freezing!” Louis whined, running over to Harry.

Harry laughed and picked Louis up, carrying him down the road to his car.

After they had showered and changed, they laid down in Louis’s bed, tangling their legs together.

“I really really like you,” Harry whispered, pushing Louis’s hair off his forehead. “You’re really amazing.”

Louis blushed softly, leaning up to kiss Harry softly. “I really really like you, too.”

Harry pulled Louis closer to kiss him, moving his lips slowly against Louis’s. He licked into the older boy’s mouth, moaning softly. Louis pushed his thigh between Harry’s, slowly grinding against him. Harry moaned into Louis’s mouth, pushing his hips forward eagerly.  Harry groaned and kissed down Louis’s neck, nipping at the skin under his jaw. He pushed his thigh up, rubbing against Louis quickly.

“Fuck,” Louis whimpered, grinding against Harry filthily. “God, m’not gonna last long, Harry.”

“Me either,” he breathed in response, biting down on Louis’s neck.

Louis cried out, coming hard in his boxers, still rubbing his thigh against Harry. Harry followed a few minutes later with a groan of Louis’s name, both of them panting as they came down from their highs. He mouthed at Louis’s neck, kissing back up to his lips.

Louis giggled breathlessly. “I guess we both need another shower.”

“Nah,” Harry chuckled. “I’ll just go get a rag, okay?”

Louis shook his head, pulling Harry closer. “Tissues on the nightstand. Use those.”

The two boys peeled their sticky boxers off and tossed them to the side, cleaning themselves gently.

Harry held Louis close to his chest, playing with his hair. “Be my boyfriend, Lou.”

Louis chewed on his bottom lip, nodding slowly. “Yeah. Yeah, okay.”

“Really?” Harry asked, smiling widely.

Louis nodded again. “I mean, you know how fucked up I am. I can’t promise that this will be a perfect relationship, Harry.”

“I’m willing to try.”

Louis smiled softly. “Go to sleep, love.”

-0-

Zayn cuddled under Liam’s arm, sipping at his tea.

“Did Louis mention anything about his date with Harry last night?” Liam asked softly.

Zayn shook his head. “I was already in bed when they got home. Harry’s still here, m’pretty sure.”

“Oh, so he stayed the night?”

“Yeah.” Zayn took another drink. “And I’m also pretty sure they did something in there, because unfortunately, I know what Louis sounds like when he comes.”

Liam laughed loudly, reaching up to cover his mouth. “Oh my gosh, that’s hilarious.”

“I don’t think they actually had sex, because I also, unfortunately, know what Louis sounds like during that, too.” Zayn groaned and covered his face. “I need to move my room to downstairs.”

Liam chuckled and kissed the corner of Zayn’s mouth. “Should we go wake them up?”

“Not if they’re naked. Nope nope nope.” Zayn draped his arm around Liam’s chest. “I’d rather stay right here beside you.”

“Cheesy.”

-0-

Louis grumbled as he woke up, cuddling closer to Harry’s chest. He pulled the blanket up to his neck.

“Morning, sleeping beauty,” Harry chuckled. “Or I guess I should say afternoon.”

“What time s’it?” Louis mumbled, rubbing his eyes.  He sat up, blanket falling down to his waist.

“It’s a little after twelve,” he responded, sitting up next to Louis. “I’ve gotta be at work at one.”

Louis pouted and leaned against Harry’s side. “I don’t want you to leave.”

“I don’t either, love.” Harry kissed Louis’s forehead. “But I’ve gotta get home so I can get clean clothes.”

Louis sighed dramatically and wrapped his arms around Harry’s chest. “I’ll see you tonight, then?”

Harry nodded. “Bye, Love.”

Louis laid on his back after Harry left, staring up at the ceiling. He texted his mum that he had new for her. She called him immediately.

“Good news or bad news?” Jay asked quickly.

“Good news,” Louis chuckled. “Very good news, in fact.”

“Well? What is it?”

“Harry asked me out on a date last night,” he said, smiling softly. “Took me to a really nice Italian restaurant. And then we went to the park.”

Louis could hear the smile in his mum’s voice as she spoke. “Oh, Louis! That’s fantastic! Did you have a good time?”

Louis sighed happily. “An amazing time, mum. He asked me to be his boyfriend last night, too. I have a boyfriend, mum.”

“Sweetheart, I’m so happy for you! Come visit soon and bring him, yeah?”

“Yeah, mum. I will. I’ll let you get back to work now. Love you.”

“Love you, too, sweet.” Jay hung up.

Louis wasn’t exactly sure if he was ready for another relationship, but he couldn’t say no to Harry. He liked Harry so _so_ much. Every time Harry was around, Louis was happy. He always had a smile on his face. Even just thinking about Harry put a smile on his face.

-0-

After work, Harry went home to shower and get ready to go to Louis’s house. He sat on his bed and looked around, falling onto his back.

Harry had literally never felt this way about anybody before. He thought about Louis all the time. He could picture himself marrying Louis, and starting a family with him. He trusted Louis with his life, and he knew Louis was slowly starting to trust him, too. His heart skipped whenever he thought about Louis. He was head over heels with Louis. He… Harry sat up quickly, eyes widening with realization.

Harry was in love with Louis.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Um, there you go?  
> Please tell me what you guys want to see happen in the next few chapters! Feedback is appreciated!


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is such a filler, it's so shitty and short. Ugh. I'm so so sorry it took so long and this was definitely not worth the wait. But please, don't give up on this story! It will get better, I promise! 
> 
> Trigger warning for panic attack/flashback type thing about domestic abuse.

The first thing Louis noticed when he woke up was hot breath and wet lips against his neck. The second thing he noticed was the raspy voice whispering in his ear.

“Wake up, gorgeous, or you won’t be able to sleep tonight.”

“If I pretend to be asleep, will you keep kissing my neck?”  Louis mumbled, keeping his eyes closed.

Harry chuckled and leaned back, causing Louis to whine softly.

“Get up, love,” Harry giggled, shaking Louis gently. “I wanna watch a movie.”

“Then put a movie on, I’m sure you can figure out how to work a DVD player. How’d you get in anyways?”

Harry pouted and straddled Louis’s hips. “Zayn let me in. And I wanna watch a movie with my boyfriend, so up up up!” He poked Louis’s cheek.

Louis cracked his eyes open at the word boyfriend. “You wanna watch a movie with your boyfriend, huh?”

“Yes, my boyfriend. So he needs to get his lazy arse out of bed and come downstairs to cuddle me. I brought cookies and soda. Let’s go.”

Louis flicked Harry’s forehead. “Get off me, then. You’re pressing on my bladder.”

Harry rolled off of Louis, grinning brightly. Louis smiled fondly at the boy, giving him a subtle once over. He furrowed his eyebrows a bit because-

“Are those my pajama pants?” Louis asked suddenly.

Harry nodded. “Of course they are. They’re fuzzy and I’m cold.”

Louis climbed out of bed and walked to his bathroom, chuckling fondly. “You’re something else, Styles,” he called out, brushing his teeth.

“I’m something awesome!” Harry replied, giggling softly as he walked to the door. “I’m gonna go start the popcorn, love.”

Louis felt his heart stutter at the pet name. “Okay, Haz. I’ll meet you down there.”

-0-

Louis’s not really sure what movie they’re watching, but he’s settled between Harry’s legs on the couch, leaning back against his chest. It’s nice. Harry’s absentmindedly running his hand through Louis’s hair, a small smile on his face. Things are good. Things are great.

Until they’re not.

Louis isn’t even really sure why it affects him so much, but it does. It’s just a short scene, a man yelling, screaming at his girlfriend. She cried out when he shoved her backwards, head slamming against the wall. Louis squeezed his eyes shut, exhaling shakily.

“Louis?” Harry asked softly, noticing the sudden tenseness of Louis’s body. “Lou, are you okay?”

But Louis wasn’t listening. His mind was somewhere else.

_“Worthless slut,” Jason growled, shoving Louis against the wall._

_Louis yelped, hands automatically going up to cover his face. “Jason, I’m sorry!”_

_Jason grabbed Louis by his hair, throwing him down to the floor. “When I tell you to do something, you do it!”_

_Louis choked out a sob, catching himself on his hurt wrist. “I-“ He cut off, getting the wind knocked out of him by Jason’s foot._

“Louis, what’s wrong?” Harry asked, gently cupping Louis’s cheek. Louis flinched harshly, moving away from Harry.

_“Jason, please don’t hit me!” Louis begged, backing himself into the corner._

_Jason snapped his wrist forward, fist colliding with Louis’s eye. “Shut the fuck up!”_

Harry’s words are barely there. “Louis, you’re scaring me-“

Louis heard himself sob, the sound shocking him a little. He tried to focus on the present, but the memories were too strong.

_Jason’s hands were everywhere. Slapping him in the face, leaving bruises on his chest. Slowly choking him, a strong grip around his neck._

_“Jason, please!” Louis choked out, gasping for air. “I’ll try harder, please!”_

_Louis doesn’t know what he did wrong this time, but right now, he’d say anything to save his life._

_“No you won’t,” Jason spat, literally spitting on Louis’s face. “You’re just a pathetic, worthless, slut. That’s all you’ll ever be.”_

_Louis sobbed harshly, black spotting his vision._

“What’s going on?” Zayn asked, running down the stairs. “Why is Louis crying?”

“I-I don’t know!” Harry said, watching Louis with sad eyes.

Louis had his knees pulled to his chest, curled in tightly as he sobbed.

Zayn kneeled down in front of Louis, gently pulling his arm away. “Louis, look at me. He’s not here, okay? Just us.”

Louis whimpered, body relaxing slightly.

_“You’re cheating on me, aren’t you, you little fucker?” Jason yelled, slapping Louis hard across the face. “You-“_

“Louis,” Zayn said sternly, forcing Louis to look at him. He kept his voice smooth as he spoke. “He’s not here. Focus on me, yeah? I’m here. You can see me. He’s not here.”

Louis’s eyes darted around the room, his body finally relaxing when he realized Jason wasn’t there. He stared at Zayn with glassy eyes and puffy lips.

“I think I should go,” Harry said softly.

Zayn nodded, glancing up at Harry. “He’ll call you later. He’s just a bit out of it now. This happens sometimes.”

“Okay,” Harry whispered. “Keep me updated on him, okay? I’ll be worried all day.”

Zayn stood up, taking Louis into his arms. Louis immediately cuddled into Zayn. “He’ll be okay, Harry. He’ll be back to his normal self in a few hours.”

Harry nodded, watching how Louis tucked his body against Zayn’s breathing shakily into his neck. He couldn’t help but feel a pang of jealously. Louis was _his_ boyfriend, not Zayn’s. _He_ should be the one to hold Louis while he’s crying.

But he can’t. He watched as Zayn carried Louis upstairs and sighed.

-0-

A few hours later, Harry had worried his bottom lip until it bled, dripping down his chin. He hadn’t heard from Louis, or Zayn, for that matter. He was freaking out.

“If something happened, Zayn would’ve called,” Harry mumbled to himself, pacing in his room. “Louis’s okay. Lou-“

Harry’s cut off by the sound of his phone ringing. Louis’s ringtone. Harry jumped onto his bed and grabbed his phone, answering quickly. “Louis?”

“Hi, Hazza,” Louis said softly, voice rough. “Sorry about earlier.”

“Don’t be sorry,” Harry breathed. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah, I’m fine.” Louis shifted, getting more comfortable on the bed. “I am sorry that we had to cut our movie short. I don’t… I don’t really know what happened.”

Harry sat up against his headboard. “It’s fine, love. Promise. We can watch a different movie another time. When can I see you again?”

“Dunno.” Louis yawned through the word. “Zayn’s keeping me on lockdown for a day or so. He wants to make sure I’m okay.”

“Oh.” He frowned slightly, picking at his blanket. “Okay. I’ll let you rest, okay?”

“Okay,” Louis murmured, yawning again. “I’ll talk you later.”

“I- Yeah. Bye, love.

“Bye, Hazza.”

Harry hung up his phone and tossed it to the side, groaning loudly to himself.

_Don’t fuck this up, Styles._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please please /please/ tell me what you guys wanna see in the next few chapters! You can comment or message me on Tumblr || keepsitcovered


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What??? an actual update??? I literally have not updated in like 4 months and I feel like absolute shit about it. I'm so sorry, guys, honestly. This story took a different turn than what I had planned cause I wrote chapter 3 or 4 without looking at my outline, and it just messed everything up. I'm going to update I Can Take You Higher before I update this again, but hopefully it'll be within the next couple weeks.
> 
> And I'm sorry for the angst :( When I'm in a block, all I'm good at writing is drama. I'm sorry.

“Please please please-“

“Louis, I just don’t think it’s best for you to leave the house right now-“

“Please please please please-“

“-especially with how bad your panic attack was the other day, not to mention the nightmares last night-“

“PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE-“

“Fine!” Zayn finally groaned, throwing his hands up. “Go see your boyfriend, you twat.”

Louis was out the door before Zayn even finished his sentence.

-0-

“Harry, you’ve been distracted all day,” Niall commented, helping Harry wipe down a few tables.

“I know, sorry,” Harry murmured. “I called Louis this morning and Zayn answered. Said that Lou had nightmares all night, so I’ve been worried all day.”

Niall nodded, groaning softly when he heard the door open. “It’s ten till closing, seriously?”

Harry stood up straight, back to the door. “Hi, welcome to- oof!” Harry cut off when a small body tackled him from behind, sending both of them down to the floor.

“I missed you so much,” Louis breathed, burying his face in Harry’s neck.

Niall laughed loudly and shook his head, walking over to them. “Damn, Lou. You’ve got quite the tackle.”

Louis giggled and moved off of Harry, letting him sit up. “Hi.”

“Hi, love,” Harry murmured, leaning forward to peck Louis’s lips. “I’ve missed you, too.”

“Stay at my place tonight,” Louis pouted. “I haven’t gotten your cuddles in two nights and I’m having withdrawals. It’s not okay.”

Harry chuckled and stood up, helping Louis up. “Okay, babe. What time do you want me to come over?”

“I took the car, so I can take you to my place when you get off. You can just borrow some of my clothes again. When do you get off?” Louis asked, glancing over at Niall.

Niall waved his hand dismissively. “Take him. He’s gonna be useless for the rest of the night.”

Louis giggled and grabbed Harry’s hand. “Thanks, Ni. You’re the best!” He pulled Harry outside, walking across the street to his car.

“Thanks for getting me out of closing,” Harry smiled. “Morning shift is gonna hate it though, cause Niall never cleans properly when he closes himself.”

Louis gave Harry a look, unlocking the car. “I haven’t cuddled with my boyfriend in two days, morning shift can suck my dick.”

“I would hope you wouldn’t let them suck your dick,” Harry mused, getting into the front seat. “I’m pretty sure Jessica has a crush on you, babe.”

Louis scrunched his nose in as he got in the driver’s seat. “She does? I’m never gonna be able to look at her the same.”

“I’m not positive,” Harry shrugged. “But either way, nobody on morning shift gets to suck your dick.”

Louis giggled softly. “Sorry to disappoint you, but you often work the morning shift.”

“Yeah, but I’m your boyfriend, it’s different,” harry huffed.

Louis smiled softly, buckling his seatbelt. “Yeah. You’re my boyfriend.”

-0-

“I just don’t understand, mum,” Louis sighed, falling back onto his bed.

Jay hummed softly over the phone. “I’m not seeing a problem, Louis.”

“We’ve been dating for two months now, and we still haven’t slept together,” Louis groaned.

“Yes, love, but wasn’t that your choice?” Jay asked.

“Well, yes, but most guys would’ve left by now!” Louis whined. “He’s too amazing and I’m not sure I’m worth it.”

“Louis William Tomlinson, don’t you dare say that about yourself. You found a boy who’s willing to abide by your guidelines and not push your limits. Appreciate him, Louis. Don’t let him go.”

Louis rubbed his face. “I won’t, mum. I promise.”

Louis didn’t want it to seem like he was complaining, but it had been two months. Two months of dating, and they hadn’t slept together. They’ve had more than their fair share of heated snogging sessions, but they never went anywhere. As soon as one of them started to get hard, Harry would back off. Fuck, they hadn’t even shared simple hand jobs or blowjobs. There was that one time they got each other off, and that was the last of it. Louis was starting to get a bit paranoid, thinking that Harry wouldn’t want to stay with him much longer if he continued the way he was. Biting his lip, he grabbed his phone to text Harry.

_‘Come over pls? Miss you :(‘_

**_‘Course darling even tho you just saw me yesterday. Miss you too’_ **

Louis sighed softly. That was the thing with Harry. He respected Louis’s limits, and he was always completely willing to drop everything to be with Louis. No matter what.

Louis jogged downstairs to answer the door when he heard Harry’s knock, leading the boy back upstairs. Before Harry even had the chance to speak, Louis kissed him eagerly, knocking him back onto the bed. He hovered over Harry and kissed down his neck, rolling his hips down.

“Lou-“ Harry gasped out, eyes wide.  Louis ignored him, fumbling with the button on Harry’s jeans until Harry grabbed his wrists. “Louis, stop. What’re you doing?”

“Wanna make you feel good,” Louis whined, tugging on Harry’s jeans. “But I can’t get your bloody jeans off! Help me!”

Harry shook his head, pulling Louis’s arms away. “Louis, no. You don’t have to do that. I know you’re not ready for it-“

“You don’t fucking know that,” Louis scowled. “How would you know if I was ready or not?”

“Because, I know you, Louis,” Harry said softly. “We’ve only been together two months, and I know with your past and all, you’re still kind of scarred-“

“Excuse me?” Louis stood up, crossing his arms. “By scarred, you mean ‘fucked up’ don’t you? God, you think the same thing as everybody else.”

“What? No!” Harry shook his head quickly. “That’s not what I meant at all, Louis, I just –“

“You know what? Fuck you, Harry,” Louis spat, blinking back tears. “I’m not some breakable little china doll, you understand? I’m not just a stupid charity case. Since day one, you’ve treated me like I’m fragile! I can handle myself, and I can make my own decisions, Harry. I don’t need you telling me what I’m ready for and what I’m not ready for. I was more than willing to make you feel good, make you happy, but you didn’t want me to. God, Harry, do I really repulse you that much? Do you really think I’m that gross?”

“Louis, no, hear me out,” Harry pleaded. “That’s not what I meant at all, I promise! I care about you so much, and I just wanted you to be okay. I know that sometimes you get jittery when things get too heated, so I just want to make sure you’re completely positive before you jump into anything.”

Louis rolled his eyes. “There you go, saying you know me again! News flash, Harry, you don’t fucking know me! You barely know anything about me!” He knew it was a lie as soon as it came out of his mouth, and Harry knew it, too. Harry knew him almost as well as Zayn.

“I know that you still have nightmares,” Harry said softly, standing up. “I know that you like for me to hold you through the night after a bad one, reminding you that you’re okay. I know how you like your tea in the morning, and how you like to lay on the couch as you fully wake up. I know what you’re like and how to handle you on good days, and on bad days, too. You love talking to your mum more than anybody, and I know how much you care for your sisters. You can say I don’t know you, but you know that’s a bullshit lie.”

“Just get out, Harry,” Louis whispered, voice cracking. “Go. Fuck you.”

“Louis, please-“

“Just leave, Harry!” the older boy shouted, weakly pushing Harry towards the door.

Harry sighed sadly and walked down the stairs, quietly shutting the door behind him. Louis finally let out the sob he was holding back, and Zayn was there almost in an instant.

“What’s wrong, babe?” he murmured, rubbing Louis’s back.

“I fucked it all up,” Louis whispered brokenly. “I fucked up the best thing in my life because I’m an idiot.”

Zayn pulled Louis in for a tight hug, shushing him gently. “It’ll all be okay, Louis, I promise.”

Louis sobbed into Zayn’s neck, leaning on him completely.

-0-

“He just told you to leave?” Liam asked, furrowing his eyebrows.

Harry nodded, whining pitifully into Liam’s thigh. “I don’t even know what I did wrong! I knew he wasn’t actually ready to do anything…sexual, so I said no.”

Liam ran his fingers through Harry’s hair. “Did you tell him that you knew he wasn’t ready?”

“Well, yeah,” Harry mumbled. “And then he just flipped out on me.”

“That’s where you went wrong,” Liam sighed. “Louis hates when people put thoughts into his head. If he thought he was ready and you said he wasn’t, it was likely that’s what pissed him off. Ever since Jason, he doesn’t like being told what to do, especially when it comes to something sexual.”

Harry groaned, hiding his face. “Dating shouldn’t be this complicated!”

“Mate, hate to break it to you, but we warned you before you got into this. Louis’s a complicated person, and two months isn’t enough time to figure him out. It could take a while. And right now is your chance to back out if it’s gonna be too much. Yeah, Louis would be upset but-“

“I’m not giving up on him,” Harry said quickly. “I’ll never give up on him. I really care about him, and I don’t care how long it takes to figure him out. I’ll wait years if I have to.”

Liam sighed softly. “Harry, are you sure about this?”

Harry nodded, glancing up at Liam. “I’m in love with him, Li. I’ll do whatever it takes, however long it takes.”

Harry just hoped it wouldn’t take too long.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Again, I'm so sorry for taking so long! Do I even have readers anymore? :( Comment with what you wanna see next!


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's been two months?? I'm so sorry.  
> WARNINGS: Domestic violence, mentions of drug use, mentions of self harm. Read with caution.

The next couple weeks sucked for Louis. He didn’t talk to anyone much, just laid in bed all day. Zayn had to force him to eat and take his medicine, but he usually threw it back up in the middle of the night. Louis wasn’t happy with the way things were going, but he had no way to change it. He couldn’t be happy without Harry, he just couldn’t.

“Lou, just talk to me,” Zayn said softly, climbing into bed behind Louis. He noticed the dried blood on the sheets. “Babe, I just hate seeing you like this.”

“Leave me alone,” Louis whispered, voice cracking for the lack of use. “I don’t wanna talk.”

Zayn sighed, rubbing Louis’s stomach. “Call Harry. Fix things, Louis.”

“I can’t,” Louis shook his head, pushing Zayn’s arms away. “Leave.”

“Lou, please-“

“Get out!” Louis shouted, squeezing his eyes shut to hold back the tears.

Zayn silently crawled out of the bed, going downstairs to call Liam.

“Harry’s not any better,” Liam sighed. “In fact, he’s laying with his head in my lap right now. He’s finally stopped crying.”

“Shush.” Zayn heard Harry’s broken voice in the background.

Zayn rubbed his face. “I’m seriously so worried about Lou,” he murmured. “Am I on speaker?”

“No, why?” Liam asked. “What’s wrong with Louis?”

“There’s dried blood all over his sheets,” Zayn whispered. “It’s just- it’s horrible. He doesn’t eat, he barely sleeps. I can hear him crying all night.”

“They were only together for two months,” Liam murmured. “Why is it so bad?”

“Because, Harry was the first guy to treat Louis how he deserved. Louis never said it, but I’m pretty sure he’s in love with Harry. When they started dating, I had never seen him happier. Now it’s just… miserable.”

“I hear ya,” Liam mumbled. “Harry’s always given his all with everything, even relationships. He’s gotten his heart broken a few times, but I’ve never seen him like this. Usually, he’ll pretend to be okay and still try to make people happy, but now all he does is mope. I hate this.”

“Li, we gotta figure out how to fix this,” Zayn said softly.

“I don’t think we can, love,” Liam replied, voice heavy. “It’s their relationship. They’ve gotta mend it.”

“Liam, you don’t understand,” Zayn whispered, voice cracking. “Last time Louis got this bad, we almost lost him. I can’t let him keep living like this.”

“We’ll figure it out,” Liam promised. “Somehow, we will.”

-0-

“Harry, just go on home,” Niall sighed. “You’re pretty much useless, sorry to admit it.”

Harry rubbed his face, leaning back against the wall. “I don’t wanna go home. Please, I’m sorry. I’ll be better.”

“Mate, you need to fix whatever happened between you and Louis,” Niall said softly. “You’re both acting like miserable twats.”

Zayn walked in then, sitting down at the counter. “I just don’t know what to do.”

“About what, babes?” Niall asked, rubbing Zayn’s back.

“Lou has been hanging out with Robert again,” Zayn replied, sighing softly. “I’m worried about him.”

“Wait, Robert as in his former dealer Robert? What the hell is Louis doing back with him?”

Harry furrowed his eyebrows, listening to the conversation. “Dealer? Louis did drugs?”

“Oh, Harry,” Zayn smiled sadly. “There's so so much you don’t know about Louis’s past. He doesn’t tell anybody about it, because he’s not proud of it. Robert is Jason’s cousin, and that’s how they met. “ He turned back to Niall. “He was talking to Rob on the phone, and was actually sounding happy about going out tonight. I’m so worried that he’s gonna do something he regrets.”

Harry chose that moment to walk away from them, not wanting to hear about Louis’s plans with another guy.

-0-

“Li, he had needle punctures on his elbow, I saw them!” Zayn said almost hysterically. “He was so gone when he came home, I had to help him to his bed. I saw them!”

Liam held Zayn’s cheeks. “Z, calm down, okay? Maybe it isn’t what you think. Talk to him when he wakes up, okay?”

“He’s already gone and with Robert,” Zayn whined. “I woke him for breakfast and tried to talk to him about it. He got pissed and left. I knew he was spending too much time with that bastard!”

“Babe, it’s his life,” Liam said softly. “You can’t control him.”

“But I can’t just sit around and let Louis destroy his life, either! He overdosed on heroin last time he used it, we almost lost him! I can’t let him do this to me, to his family!”

“Calm down,” Liam said, kissing Zayn’s forehead. “Louis is a smart kid, okay? He won’t ruin his life. He wouldn’t do that again.”

“Yes he would,” Zayn whispered. “He would because he’s upset, and he’s never been kind to himself when he’s upset.”

-0-

“Lou, it’s been two fucking months since you’ve properly been home,” Zayn argued, blocking the door.

Louis looked terrible, to put it nicely. He had bags under his eyes, a bruise on his arm, and a busted lip. He had been coming home once or twice a week to grab clothes, but he wasn’t home otherwise. He hadn’t slept in his own bed in almost two months. Every time Zayn saw him, he had a new bruise that he wouldn’t talk about.

“I’m an adult, I don’t have to answer to you,” Louis scowled. “Move, Zayn. I have to be somewhere.”

“Lou, just talk to me!” Zayn pleaded. “I’m worried about you, Liam’s worried about you. Niall’s worried about you.” _Harry’s worried about you,_ he doesn’t say it out loud, but it’s still there. “Will it really hurt you to stay for five minutes and just explain to me what’s going on?”

“Yes, it will,” Louis said softly, angry expression fading. A pleading one replaced it. “Please, Zayn, please. Ma-maybe another time, but I really have to go. Just move.”

“Louis-“

“Zayn, please!” Louis begged. “Let me leave!”

Zayn saw the desperate look in Louis’s eyes and stepped away. Louis left without another word.

-0-

“Thanks for coming out tonight, mate,” Niall said, patting Harry’s back. “You need this. Get plastered tonight.”

Harry chuckled weakly. “Maybe, I dunno. I’ll definitely have a few drinks tonight.”

Zayn’s eyes darkened when he looked up at the door, a scowl covering his face.

“Babe, what’s wrong?” Liam asked, rubbing Zayn’s arm.

Niall spoke up before Zayn could. “What the hell is that bastard doing with Louis?!”

Harry and Liam both looked up, gasping softly. Harry’s eyes widened at Louis’s state. He was even worse than before, limping in behind Jason and his friends.

“That’s why he’s never home,” Zayn whispered. “Fuck, that’s quite the bruise on his eye. And look at his arms.”

Harry exhaled shakily, eyes filling with tears. “Oh, Lou.”

Louis stood behind Jason at the table, even though his legs were killing him. He knew he wasn’t allowed to sit, the chairs were for the cool people. He knew the rules.

“Go get me a drink,” Jason sneered, giving Louis’s a rough shove towards the bar.

Louis tripped over his feet as he quickly made his way to the bar, standing in line.

“You look terrible, mate.”

Louis glanced up to see Niall smiling sadly at him. He quickly looked down. “Go away.”

“No, I wanna talk to you,” Niall said, stepping back to let Louis order. “It’s been a while. How’ve you been?”

“Just fine,” Louis said shortly, taking the drink from the bartender. “I’ve gotta go.”

“Lou, just talk to me,” Niall said softly. “We miss you. Come sit with us for a bit, yeah?”

“Look, Niall, I appreciate the gesture, but I’ve really gotta go, okay?” Louis pleaded, glancing back at Jason. “Goodbye, Niall.” He walked back over to the table, leaving Niall to walk away with a defeated sigh.

“The kid is terrified,” he sighed. “We’ve gotta help him.”

They’re attention is drawn to Louis’s table when they hear Jason’s voice.

“There’s some missing, you worthless slut,” Jason scowled, knocking the drink from Louis’s hand. “What, you drink some of it?”

Louis’s eyes were wide with fear. “What? No, Jason, I-“

Jason slapped Louis across the face, hard enough to make him cry out.

“Why I oughta-“ Zayn growled, standing up.

Liam pulled him back down. “Don’t do anything you’d regret, love.”

“I won’t regret ripping his arm off one bit.”

Liam rolled his eyes, holding Zayn by the waist. He watched as Louis went to the bar to get Jason another drink, keeping his eyes on it as he walks back to the table. Jason shoos him off as soon as he gets his drink. Louis wipes under his eyes, quickly scurrying to the bathroom.

“I-I’ll be right back,” harry whispered, getting up to follow Louis. He catches him before he gets to the bathroom. “Lou, talk to me.”

Louis looked up at Harry, shaking his head. “Go away. The last thing I need is to talk to you right now.”

“Louis, please, you don’t love him,” Harry pleaded.

Louis rolled his eyes. “Yeah, well, I don’t love you either, Harry.” Harry took a step back, hurt visibly flashing on his face. Louis either didn’t notice or didn’t care, just kept talking. “I don’t fucking need you, Harry. I have Jason, and he takes care of me.”

“I can tell by the handprint on your cheek,” Harry scoffed, watching the older boy cover his cheek. “Lou, the prick abuses you, and you know it. You’ve told me all about him. You don’t fucking love him, and you don’t want to be with him. You’re just too damn scared to say no to him.”

“Fuck you,” Louis scowled. “You don’t know anything. You’re just some kid who thinks he can fix me. Fuck off, okay?”

Harry caught Louis’s arm. “I’m not letting you leave with him!”

“I’m a grown fucking adult, Harry, you can’t control me!” Louis walked over to Jason, who grabbed him roughly by the arm. Harry could barely hear their conversation.

“Why the fuck were you talking to him?” Jason growled, shoving Louis back against the wall. “Doesn’t he know you’re not his bitch anymore?”

“I was never his bitch, and I kept trying to get away,” Louis promised. “He worries too much, so he wouldn’t let me walk away.”

Jason rolled his eyes, pulling Louis towards the door. “You’re sleeping in the garage tonight, slut.”

Harry leaned back against the wall and slid down, choking out a sob. He had to do something to help Louis.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Leave me feedback? Let me know what you wanna read. tumblr || keepsitcovered :)


	13. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i'm literal trash i am so so sorry for not updating for almost 7 months like i don't even know what happened with that
> 
> And this chapter feels a bit rushed to me, but idk maybe it's just me. it goes over the span of about four-five months, in such a short amount of words. but eh. I actually do kind of like this chapter, hopefully you do to.  
> oh and there's a new character introduced :)
> 
> TRIGGER WARNINGS FOR THIS CHAPTER: mentions of self-harm, drug use, domestic abuse, and rehab facilities. very short mention of molestation rape, and suicide.   
> If I missed any, please do not hesitate to comment.

Four months.

It had been four months since Louis saw any of the guys. Jason rarely let him leave anymore, but he didn’t really care at that point. He was numb, completely numb. There were too many drugs in his system for him to feel pain anymore.

He hardly ever looked at his phone, too many texts and calls for the guys. Their voicemails were emotional, but his mum’s were the worst. She usually had one of Louis’s little sisters leave a message, trying to guilt trip him into calling back or answering. It almost worked. Almost.

Louis was snapped out of his thoughts when he heard Jason yell his name. He looked down at his thighs, surprised at how many cuts he actually saw. He quickly cleaned himself up and jogged downstairs, immediately earning a slap to the face for not doing the dishes. He swallowed a couple pills when Jason wasn’t looking, knowing he was going to need to be high to get through the night.

It was safe to say, Louis wanted to die.

-0-

“Louis hasn’t called me in months,” Jay sighed, rubbing her face.

“He hasn’t talked to any of us in almost five months,” Niall admitted softly, sipping on his tea. “We barely saw him the couple months before that.”

“Did he move out?” Jay asked. “Why haven’t any of you seen him?”

Niall sighed quietly, chewing on his bottom lip.

He knew Louis would be pissed, but Jay deserved to know. He didn’t want to betray Louis’s trust though. He shook his head a bit, taking a deep breath.

“Um, yeah. Louis moved out, but not for a good reason.”

Jay inhaled sharply. “What’s wrong with Louis? Tell me, Niall.”

“Lou’s back with Jason,” Niall whispered. “When him and Harry broke up-“

“What?” Jay practically screeched, standing up from her chair.

Niall winced a bit. “Yeah. Lou and Haz broke up, and Louis spiraled down. He relapsed and started hanging out with Robert again, then Jason. Zayn swears that Louis is using again, but the one time I’ve seen him, he seemed sober. Had a pretty bad bruise on his face though.”

“I’m going to kill the bastard,” she scowled, grabbing a bag from the closet. “I’m going to text Louis, but can you also? Tell him I’ll be down tonight and want to see him. I’ll go to Jason’s if I have to.”

“Alright, Jay. I’ll text him, but I can’t promise he’ll respond. Let me know how it goes, yeah?”

Jay promised to give Niall details, hanging up the phone to pack a quick bag. She told Lottie where she was going, sending Louis a quick text.

_‘Coffee shop tonight at seven. I’ll pick you up from his flat if needed. See you then love xx’_

-0-

Louis stared at the phone in his hand, heart racing as he read the message. His mum knew, fuck. “Perrie, I need you!” he called out.

It was one of the rare occasions where Louis was at Jason’s flat by himself, Jason being gone for the weekend. Whenever Jason was gone, Louis called Perrie over. She was Louis’s secret friend, never having met the guys or Jason. Perrie didn’t judge, no matter how deep in shit Louis got.

“What’s wrong, babe?” Perrie asked, padding into the room as she threw her hair into a bun. “You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”

“My mum is coming down tonight and wants to meet up,” Louis breathed, looking up at her. “Pez, look at me. I’m a mess.”

It was true. He could easily hide his cuts with a jacket and some jeans, and it also covered the needle marks. There was an ugly yellow bruise on his cheekbone from Jason’s punch the week before. Hand print bruises were wrapped around his wrists, freshly colored from the night before.

“Perrie, you have to help me cover all this shit up. Please, please,” Louis begged, tears filling his eyes.

Perrie shushed Louis gently and pulled him in for a hug, rubbing his back. “It’s okay, darling, I’ll help you. You’re okay.”

Louis just wished that was true.

-0-

Four hours later, Louis looked partway decent. His clothes hung off of him and his hands were shaking, but he determinedly sat in the back corner of the coffee shop. He could tell Niall was staring at him. The blonde was making it very obvious, but didn’t say a word as he brought Louis his usual drink.

Jay walked in a few minutes past seven, going to get a drink from Niall before sitting across from Louis. “Hello, love.”

“Hi, mum,” Louis said quietly, looking down at his drink. “Why the random meet up?”

“You haven’t talked to me in months,” Jay said softly. “I’ve been worried.”

“I’ve been really busy-“

Jay scoffed quietly. “Cut the bullshit, Louis,” she said simply. “Tell me the truth.”

Louis swallowed thickly, trying to think of a believable lie. He eventually gave up. “I ruined everything with Harry,” he whispered. “Don’t really know what happened after that, just kinda gave up one everything.”

“Oh, Louis,” she whispered, rubbing Louis’s hand. “Baby, I’m sure you didn’t ruin everything. Have you tried talking to Harry?”

Louis shook his head, rubbing his eyes. “He hates me,” he breathed. “They all hate me.”

“No they don’t,” Jay promised. “I know for a fact they’re all worried sick about you, especially Harry. He calls Zayn every week to see if you’ve come home.”

“Don’t lie to me,” Louis mumbled, picking at his sleeves.

“I’m not, darling,” Jay murmured. “I wouldn’t lie to you about this, Louis. You know that.”

Louis looked up at Jay, tears running down his cheeks. “I’m scared, mum,” he admitted shakily, voice cracking a couple times. “I need help.”

Jay shushed him gently and moved her chair next to his, pulling him close. “I know, baby. I know everything. Whoever covered your bruises did a pretty good job, but it’s a bit dark for your skin tone. And it’s almost summer, you shouldn’t be wearing long sleeves.”

The two stay cuddled close like that for another hour or so, talking and catching up. By the time they leave, Louis has a small smile on his face, cash to get a hotel room for a couple nights, and plans to go to rehab. He’s already texted Perrie, and she’s already started packing his bags.

“I’ll be back in a couple days to get you, okay?” Jay murmured, stroking Louis’s cheek. “I’ll set everything up, you just relax with Perrie and try to stay clean.”

“Thank you, mum,” Louis whispered. “For everything. I love you so much.”

Jay smiled softly, kissing Louis’s forehead. “Just do me a favor, yeah? Call Harry.”

“I’ll think about it,” Louis mumbled, shrugging a little. “See you in a couple days, mum.”

-0-

Perrie called the cops on Jason. They came over and searched the house for drugs, and saw how beat up Louis was. They asked where Jason was and left.

Louis got a call thirty minutes later that Jason was going to jail.

-0-

Louis called Harry. Tucked away in his hotel room, cuddling up to Perrie, he dialed Harry’s number.

Harry hadn’t heard from Louis since that night in the bar, so it was safe to say that Harry was shocked when Louis’s name flashed across his screen. He debated whether or not he should answer.

Of course he answered.

“Louis?” he breathed, clutching the phone tightly.

“Hi, Harry,” Louis whispered. “How’ve you been?”

“Louis, it’s really you,” Harry said softly. “Oh my gosh.”

Louis chuckled quietly, resting his head on Perrie’s shoulder. “Yeah, it’s really me. I’m sorry I haven’t answered your messages or anything. I’ve been kinda messed up.”

“That’s fine, you’re calling now and that’s all that matters,” Harry murmured. “Why are you randomly calling me? Not that I don’t appreciate it, I’m just curious.”

“I’m getting help,” Louis breathed. “I really messed up, Harry. I’m so sorry about everything.”

“Don’t be sorry,” Harry sighed, rubbing his face. “It’s okay, you’re okay. That’s all that matters.”

“Well, I’m not really okay,” Louis admitted quietly. “I’m really fucked up. I’m actually shaking right now cause it’s the first time in months that I haven’t been high.”

Harry blinked back tears, chewing on his bottom lip. “Oh, Lou. I’m sorry, I should’ve helped you. I should’ve never let you go home with Jason that night, we should’ve-“

“Harry, it’s not your fault. It really isn’t. I made this choice myself because I’m an idiot. You didn’t hit me, you didn’t put the needle in my arm, or the blade to my skin. You didn’t do any of that, so please don’t blame yourself.”

It was quiet for a few minutes before Louis spoke up. “I’m going to rehab in a couple days. I don’t know when I’ll be back.”

Harry’s breath caught in his throat. “Can I see you before you go?” he asked softly, though he was pretty sure he knew the answer.

“I’d rather you not,” Louis whispered. “I look bad, and I don’t want you to see me like this.”

“I understand,” Harry sighed. “I miss you.”

“I miss you, too, and I’m gonna get better,” Louis promised. “I’ll get better and come home, I swear. And I’ll be yours, i-if you still want me.”

“Of course I still want you,” harry whispered. “I love you, Louis. So so much.

Louis sniffled softly, rubbing his eyes. “When I get back, I’ll be able to love you like you deserve.”

The two boys said their goodbyes and hung up. Louis buried his face in Perrie’s neck, crying softly.

-0-

Rehab was weird.

All he knew about his roommate is that her name was Jesy, and she just recently turned eighteen. She reminded him a lot of Perrie, so maybe that’s why he instantly took a liking to her.

Jesy showed Louis around the small building and explained the schedule, her arm linked through his as they walked.

“This place isn’t really all that bad,” Jesy smiled, squeezing Louis’s arm gently. “You’ll get used to it, love.”

“Thanks for showing me around,” Louis murmured, chewing on his bottom lip.

“Oi, none of that nonsense,” Jesy tutted, pulling Louis’s lip from his teeth. “What relaxes you? Music, flowers, quiet?”

“All of the above, honestly,” Louis chuckled. “Are we allowed to go outside?”

Jesy nodded, pulling Louis toward the back exit. “Sure are. There’s gates surrounding the property, so they don’t worry about people running. But you seem really determined to get better.”

“I am,” Louis said softly. “I’ve got- someone waiting for me back home,” he murmured, changing his wording at the last minute.

“I know what you mean,” she nodded, plopping down in the grass. “I had a girl back home, but after a few months, she told me she was done waiting.”

“That’s awful,” Louis frowned in response, sitting down next to her. “Hopefully Harry doesn’t do that to me. He told me he loved me before I left.”

Jesy cooed softly, pinching Louis’s cheeks playfully. “How cute! Did you say it back?”

“I couldn’t, I just wasn’t ready,” Louis murmured.

“You will be soon enough, love,” Jesy said softly. “I promise.

-0-

The first month of rehab was hell. Louis’s body was screaming for drugs, and his withdrawals were awful. He felt like his body was on fire, and nothing made it better.

The second month was easier, only twitching for a needle or blade every so often.

By the third month, Louis almost felt like his old self, covered in scars.

-0-

“Did I ever tell you what I was in for?” Jesy asked one night. He shook his head, concentrating on braiding her hair. “Do you wanna know?”

“I’ve been curious,” Louis admitted. “But I didn’t want to push you into telling me.”

Jesy answered like it wasn’t a big deal. “My foster father raped me and I attempted suicide, so my foster parents had me admitted.”

Louis’s jaw dropped, hands freezing in the air. He opened and closed his mouth a few times, settling on a simple, “what?”

Jesy chuckled softly, closing her eyes as she spoke. “It doesn’t affect me as much as it used to. When I was fifteen, my parents were killed in a car accident. I got a foster family pretty quickly, my foster father started molesting me a week after I got there. I started cutting myself when I was sixteen, and tried to hang myself when I was seventeen. I guess one of them found me and called an ambulance. I turned eighteen about a month after I got here, so luckily I don’t have to go back to foster care.”

“So where are you going when you get out of here?” Louis asked softly.

“I dunno,” Jesy shrugged a little, trying not to mess Louis up. “There hasn’t been word about me getting out, so I’ll figure it out later.”

“Move in with me,” Louis blurted out, tying off Jesy’s braid. “I mean, you’ve been such a good friend to me these last few months, and you’ve helped me through everything. It’s the least I can do.”

“Lou, are you sure? Didn’t you say you lived with a friend?” Jesy asked, turning around to look at Louis. She looked a bit hopeful.

“Zayn won’t care,” Louis shrugged. “Honestly, it’s fine. You can stay with me, unless you find somewhere else to go. Okay?”

Jesy nodded, hugging Louis close. “Thank you, Louis.”

-0-

Louis finds out the next day that he and Jesy are scheduled to be released on the same day. They only had two more months left, as long as nothing goes wrong.

“I’m so excited to finally be out of this place!” Jesy grinned, falling back onto her bed. “This is so exciting!”

“I know!” Louis giggled, lying beside Jesy. “I can’t believe I get to go home. I get to see my friends again. I get to see Harry.”

“I expect a proper introduction,” Jesy teased. Things were quiet for a few minutes. “Hey, you never officially told me your story.”

“Oh yeah,” Louis murmured. “Where do I even start?”

“Anywhere you want to,” Jesy said softly.

“I don’t even remember when it all started,” Louis sighed, rubbing his face. “It started when I met Jason, actually. He got me really into drugs, and then he started abusing me. I attempted once, and my friend found me, so he helped me get out of that relationship. Things got better, and I was okay. Then I met Harry.” He couldn’t help but smile a bit at the boy’s name. “Harry fell hard and fast, I could tell. I eventually gave him a chance, and we made things official. Long story short, I started over-thinking, forced him to leave, and it started a downward spiral. I got back with Jason, started getting abused again, and got addicted to drugs even worse than before. My mum finally got in touch with me and, well, here I am. Sorry it’s a shitty explanation.”

“We’re both going to be happy when we get out of here, okay?” Jesy promised, suddenly sitting up. She grabbed her soda and poured some into a cup for Louis, handing it to him. She raised her can. “To a long and happy life, yeah?”

Louis smiled softly and kissed Jesy’s cheek, nodding a bit. He tapped his cup against Jesy’s can. “To a long and happy life.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please comment if you read this chapter. I wanna see how many readers I still have. even if it's just a simple smiley face (or frowny face).
> 
> Or you can leave feedback. 
> 
> Yeah, feedback would be nice.


	14. Chapter 14

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> things start looking up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i'm trash i haven't updated in like four months??? i'm so sorry???
> 
> i planned on updating before classes started, but i ended up going to OTRA CLEVELAND(!!!if you went hmu!!!) and then my mom was admitted into the hospital and now she's readmitted and my life is falling apart :)))
> 
> there's only gonna be one-two more chapters probably. i might do a sequel if enough people ask for one?
> 
> um there's not really any triggers in this chapter. they just kind of talk about louis's past a TINY TINY bit. 
> 
> it's short and i'm sorry

The day Louis and Jesy get released is like a weight off their shoulders.

“I can’t believe we’re finally out, I feel like I’ve been in forever,” Jesy mumbled, squeezing Louis’s hand. “This is so exciting!”

“I know!” Louis giggled softly, leading Jesy outside. “My mum should be here- oof!”

Louis is cut off when someone tackles him into a hug, blonde hair covering his mouth. “Louis!”

“Perrie!” Louis grinned, hugging her tightly. “I’ve missed you so much!”

Perrie kissed Louis’s cheek noisily, stepping back to look at him. “You look fantastic, love. So much better than the last time I saw you.” She glanced over at Jesy, smiling softly. “Gonna introduce me to your friend, Lou?”

“Perrie, this is my roommate Jesy,” Louis hummed, wrapping his arm around Jesy’s waist. “She kept me sane while I was in there. Jesy, this is my best friend Perrie.”

“Louis’s told me a lot about you,” Jesy smiled, holding her hand out to shake Perrie’s. “You’re a great friend.”

Perrie smiled and pulled Jesy into a hug instead, kissing her cheek. “It’s good to meet you, love. I’m sure we’ll get along just fine.”

Jay walked up with a small smile, hugging Louis tightly. “I’m so happy you’re okay, darling,” she whispered, sniffling softly.

“Mum, don’t make me cry,” Louis whined, hiding his face in her shoulder. “I’m glad I’m okay, too. Thank you for helping me.”

Louis introduced Jesy and his mum, all of them piling into the van to leave. There were a lot of laughs as they left Manchester, starting the long drive home to London. They kept the radio off as they drove, stopping to get breakfast about an hour in.

“I didn’t tell the boys that you were getting out today,” Jay hummed as they were seated. “I didn’t know if you’d want them to know.”

“Only reason I knew is because I bugged her every day asking if she had details,” Perrie giggled. “It was shit that you couldn’t contact anybody.”

“I know,” Louis sighed, shaking his head. “But I’m out now, and hopefully I’ll never go back. I feel like a new person.”

“The facility was very helpful,” Jesy nodded. “I was in a few months longer than Louis, and I started feeling better just a month after I went in. Could’ve been a lot worse.”

“You know Zayn is going to be absolutely ecstatic,” Perrie laughed. “He’s been driving Li crazy cause he’s been so worried about you.”

“I’m excited to see him,” Louis murmured. “I’ve missed them all. Especially Harry,” he whispered, the table getting quiet.

“Harry calls a few times a week, even called this morning,” Jay said softly, rubbing Louis’s back. “He cares about you so much, love. He’ll be so happy to have you back in his life.”

-0-

They pull up outside Louis and Zayn’s house a few hours later, the car quiet and a bit tense. “This is kinda scary,” Louis mumbled, undoing his seatbelt. “You sure he’s going to want me back here?”

“Oh, don’t even,” Perrie huffed, flicking Louis’s forehead. “Go on, babe. He’ll be so happy!”

Louis slowly got out of the car and made his way up the sidewalk, ringing the doorbell. He could hear Liam talking from the other side of the door, mentioning something about pizza.

“Zayn, I need-“ Liam cut himself off as soon as the door was open, eyes widening. “Louis?” he gasped, pulling the smaller boy into a hug. “Oh my god! Zayn, its Louis! Louis’s back!”

There was a small thud from the living room and then some running, Zayn sliding into the hallway a few seconds later. “Louis!” he grinned, running over to join the hug. “You’re home! Oh, this is so fantastic!”

“Yeah, I’m home,” Louis whispered, blinking away tears. “I’m home for good, don’t worry about that.” He hid his face in Zayn’s chest, arms wrapped around both of them. Louis stepped back a few minutes later, chuckling softly as he wiped under his eyes. “Um, Zayn, Li- this is my friend Jesy,” he hummed, pulling Jesy forward. “She’s gonna stay with us, yeah?”

Zayn nodded, giving Jesy a small hug. “Yeah, that’s fine. Nice to meet you, Jesy,” he hummed softly. “And friend of Louis’s is welcome.”

Jay stepped forward, kissing Louis’s cheek. “I’m gonna head back to my hotel, love. I’ve been up for quite a long time and I need a nap.”

“Alright, mum, I’ll call you later, yeah?” Louis said softly, rubbing her back. “I love you.”

-0-

Louis took Jesy upstairs to the extra bedroom next to his, helping her unpack the few belongings she had. They laughed and joked around as they unpacked, then sat on her bed.

“We’ll get you some more stuff for your room,” Louis murmured. “I’m sure Niall would hire you at the shop, so you could work there.”

“You’ve been so good to me,” Jesy said softly, resting her head on Louis’s shoulder. “So have your friends and your mum. What did I ever do to deserve this?”

Louis kissed Jesy’s forehead, smiling softly. “You’ve been through hell and back, and you deserve happiness. We both do. We’ve been through kind of similar things, honestly. We’ve both been abused and raped, and we both made it through. We’ll continue to get through all this, yeah? We’ve got each other.”

“Yeah,” Jesy said softly, smiling up at the boy she had become so close within the last few months. “I’m so glad you ended up as my roommate. I feel like we were supposed to meet and help each other, and I’m so happy we did. I haven’t been this happy since my parents died.”

“You deserve all the happiness in the world,” Louis murmured. “And speaking of happiness, I’m sorry to leave you, but I’ve gotta go see Harry. I’m itching to see his face.”

“Go see your boy,” Jesy laughed, sitting up as Perrie walked in. “I’m sure he misses you, too.”

“Are you going to see Harry?” Perrie squealed, covering her cheeks. “Go, go see him now!”

-0-

To say Harry had been miserable would be an understatement. He couldn’t stop thinking about the phone call with Louis, even though it had been months. Nobody spoke of Louis, around him at least, and he barely talked to anybody anymore. He had been out a few times, drinking away his sorrows and trying to hook up with random guys. Nothing ever happened, and nothing helped. There was a hole in his heart and only Louis could fill it.

-0-

Louis walked into the small shop and motioned for Niall to keep quiet, hugging him with tears in his eyes. “I missed you.”

“I missed you, too,” Niall whispered, rubbing Louis’s back gently. “It’s so good to have you back, mate. We’ve all missed you around here.”

“It’s good to be back, honestly,” Louis chuckled, stepping back and wiping under his eyes. “And as much as I love you, is Harry here? I really need to see him.”

Niall nodded, fixing his shirt. “He’s in the break room. Go on back.”

Louis kissed Niall’s cheek and made his way down the small hallway, quietly walking up to the doorway. His breath hitched as his eyes landed on Harry. The boy looked absolutely exhausted, just staring blankly at the wall as he sipped on his drink. Louis took quiet steps into the room, standing behind Harry. “Hi, Harry.”

Harry jerked his head around with wide eyes, standing up quickly. “Louis?” he gasped, pulling Louis into a tight hug. He couldn’t help the small sob that left his lips, hiding his face in Louis’s neck. “You’re here, you’re actually here.”

“Yeah, I’m here,” Louis whispered. “I’m back and I’m never leaving again, I swear.” He tangled his hands in Harry’s curls, noting how long they’ve gotten. He breathed in Harry’s scent, trying to memorize every detail about the boy. “I’ll never leave you again.”

“I’m so happy you’re back,” Harry hiccupped, sniffling softly. “You- I can’t believe you’re home. Finally home.” Harry took a small step back to look at Louis, noticing how healthy he looked compared to the last time. “You’re beautiful.”

“I am not,” Louis blushed, giggling softly. “You on the other hand… Your hair’s gotten so long!”

Harry smiled a bit, wiping under his eyes. “Yeah, I just felt like it. Do you like it?” he asked shyly.

“I love it,” Louis grinned, pecking Harry’s lips. “I love _you._ ”

“Oh,” Harry gasped, breath visibly hitching. “I love you, too, Louis. So fucking much.”

-0-

Niall let’s Harry go home early and he rides back to Louis’s place with him, not being able to take his hands off the older boy. They both went inside, hand in hand, ignoring Zayn and Liam’s massive grins. Louis introduced Harry to Jessie and Perrie, who both had suspiciously red lips. Louis chose to ignore it.

“Please tell me you’re staying the night,” Louis whispered as he shut his door, going to his dresser to grab some pajamas.

“I was hoping you’d ask,” Harry smiled, wrapping his arms around Louis from behind. “I don’t think I could handle leaving you right now anyways.”

Louis giggled softly as he changed into some sweats, watching as Harry stripped down to his boxers. “This okay for me to sleep in?” he asked softly, noticing Louis’s stare.

“Yeah, it’s fine,” Louis murmured, blushing softly. “Whatever you wanna wear.” He crawled into bed after Harry, cuddling into his side. “You make me feel so safe,” he whispered. “I’ve never felt this way in a relationship.”

“I’ll make sure this is how you always feel from now on,” Harry promised. “You’re so amazingly lovely. You deserve all the happiness in the world, and I’m so sorry you’ve been through everything that’s happened. I want you to feel beautiful, loved, and safe. I’ll protect you until my dying breath, Louis, I promise you that. I’ll never let you go back to that part of your life.”

Louis sniffled quietly, resting his head on Harry’s chest. “The entire time I was with him, and the entire time I was in rehab, you’re all I thought about. I thought about our last conversation, and how you said you loved me. I also thought about your face that night I walked away in the club. I still regret that night to this day. I should’ve just gone home with you, but we still made it back to each other. This is where we’re meant to be.”

Harry leaned forward and gently pressed their lips together, letting them move together quietly. Louis hooked his leg over Harry’s waist and pressed their bodies closer, the only noises being the slight smacking of their lips.

Until they hear a small moan from the room next door, causing them to break apart with giggles. “Who’s that?” harry asked quietly.

“Jes is staying in that room, and I’m guessing Perrie stayed the night,” Louis giggled. “They seemed to hit it off pretty quick.”

“I’ll say,” Harry laughed softly, shaking his head as he pulled the blanket over the two of them. “We’ll make them jealous with our noises soon,” he winked.

Louis blushed as he hid his face in Harry’s chest, whining softly. “Don’t say things like that. Just go to sleep, brat.”

“G’night, darling,” Harry murmured fondly, kissing Louis’s forehead. “I love you.”

“I love you, too, Hazza,” Louis whispered back, closing his eyes. “I love you so much.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so hope you enjoyed that. pls leave feedback if you're still reading this.
> 
> REGARDING ALL THE LIAM DRAMA okay so fuck that goddamn interview. like honestly it's trash. don't believe a single word of it and don't let it discourage you. one direction concerts can still be your safe place to be yourself and rainbow direction is still a very positive thing!!! liam's comments are irrelevant!!! be yourself! be happy! be bold!
> 
> if you guys wanna talk hmu on twitter (leeann_darling) or tumblr (harrytomlintease) and we can talk about it


	15. Epilogue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> things are good.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sappy sappy sappy
> 
> OH MY GOD okay, so, this is the end guys!! it only took me a month to update this and that's an accomplishment to me. 
> 
> i'm actually kind of emotional posting this epilogue. this story has been my baby for over two years now and it's definitely my longest story i've ever written. i'm so attached to this story, and it's over :(
> 
> This is super short since it's just an epilogue, but i hope you enjoy it. it's super fluffy.

Three months after Louis came home, Zayn announced that he was moving in with Liam. They were all expecting it, really, so it wasn’t a surprise at all. Jesy moved all her stuff downstairs into Zayn’s old room, claiming she couldn’t stand to hear Louis and Harry anymore.

Perrie moved into the room next to Jesy’s instead of renewing her lease. She already spent most nights with Jesy in her room. She practically already lived there.

Harry had been hinting for a while that he wanted to move in with Louis. He already had a key, spent most of his time there, and walked around like he lived there. He even had his own drawer in Louis’s room.

Louis brought it up to him that night in bed. “Haz? Why don’t you move in officially?”

Harry choked on his water bottle, sitting up quickly to cough. “Wha-what?” he asked, looking down at Louis. “For real?”

“Yes, for real,” Louis giggled, sitting up as well and wiping off Harry’s chin. “If you want to, of course. I’d love it.”

“Of course I’ll move in with you!” Harry grinned brightly, tackling Louis back against the bed, peppering his face with kisses. 

-0-

Louis didn’t go back to school. Jesy took a job at the shop with Harry, and Louis decided to open up a home babysitting service with Perrie. Things feel right for once in Louis’s life.

Yeah, Louis still had bad days, but they came further apart. Sometimes Harry doesn’t know how to handle them, so Jesy steps in to help. Personal experience helps, she claimed. Harry usually felt awful on those days, but Louis always assured him it was fine.

 It worked the other way around, too. Jesy had bad days, and sometimes Louis had to help her. Perrie could usually help, her experience with Louis coming in handy. They’re both getting better one day at a time.

-0-

Two years later, things are nearly perfect. Harry graduated from college with a degree in photography, and Louis’s and Perrie’s babysitting service is still going strong. Harry is obsessed with constantly taking pictures of Louis, the polaroids covering part of the wall in their room.

Louis chose not to babysit on the weekends, only occasionally watching the youngest set of twins in his family. Doris and Ernest adored playing with Jesy and Perrie, so Louis chose to let the girls take care of them.

Louis looked around for Harry from his spot on the floor, furrowing his eyebrows. He focused on Doris as she toddled over to him, tickling her as she plopped down in his lap. “Whacha got there, darling?” he chuckled.

Doris babbled as she held up the small box in her hands, a bright smile on her little face. She kept pushing the box into Louis’s face until he finally took it, playing along with her.

“What could it be?” he teased, kissing her cheek as he tore the box open. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a bright flash, but he didn’t pay attention. His eyes were focused on the small ring in the box, a small diamond in the middle of the silver. “Oh my…” Louis quickly looked up, Harry already watching him from the doorway. “Harry?” he moved Doris to the side and stood up, finally noticing the rest of his friends and his mum in the room.

“Well?” Harry asked softly, walking over to Louis. He kneeled down and took the ring into his hand. “Louis William Tomlinson, I love you with everything I have. I know we’ve been through a lot, and we’ve got a long way to go, but I’m here for the long run. And I hope you are, too. Will you do the honor of being my husband?”

Louis didn’t know how to react. Tears were steadily running down his cheeks, but there was a bright smile on his face. “Haz,” he whispered, voice cracking. “Yes. Yes! Of course, Harry, yes!”

Harry slipped the ring on Louis’s finger and stood up, pulling the smaller boy into a small hug. “Thank you,” he breathed, eagerly pressing their lips together.

They say “I do” eight short months later, their closest friends and family by their sides. Things are far from perfect, but it’s perfect for them. Louis still has bad days, but his good days outnumber those majorly. 

And they wouldn’t have it any other way.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> LET ME KNOW WHAT YOU THINK OF THE WHOLE STORY PLS.
> 
> This might not be the very end of this verse. I might write a one-shot here or there. Let me know what you guys wanna read, if anything at all!
> 
> Now i'm gonna focus on my other story, but i'll always love this one. thank you guys so so much for all your amazing support over these last two and a half years. I wouldn't have been able to finish this story without you guys. I love you all so so much.
> 
> Thank you.


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